Hoffman Estates stymies Lakes

Hoffman Estates' boys basketball team was in dire need of some energy Tuesday night and Sheldon Barnett-Morales acted like a nuclear reactor.

The senior had a steal in the third quarter that he turned into a crashing dunk for the Hawks, igniting them to a 40-21 nonconference victory over Lakes in Hoffman Estates.

"If the energy is low, I try to bring it back up with a dunk or something," said Barnett-Morales, a 6-foot-6 senior. "We just try to play some good defense and talk to each other. And after a talk, we can get more steals and go."

Hoffman (2-3) need some go. Badly.

The Hawks had forced 17 first-half turnovers, but still only managed a 17-9 lead at the half.

Lakes (0-5), realizing that despite all its miscues, was still in the game. The Eagles began to take better care of the ball and converted a few shots and suddenly, they had closed the gap to 17-16 with 4:53 left in the third quarter on a basket by Bradley Cherry.

Lakes had an opportunity to take the lead when Barnett-Morales turned the switch on for the Hawks. He stole the ball at the top of the free throw circle on his end, than raced downcourt with the ball, culminating with a monster slam to make it 19-16.

That turned the lights on for Hoffman.

The Hawks forced turnovers on Lakes' next three possessions and scored 8 more points to lead 27-16 early in the fourth quarter.

Lakes stemmed the tide, briefly, with a free throw. Hoffman then ran off 11 unanswered points to blow the game open with a 38-17 lead. During the span, the Hawks went on a 21-1 run, forcing 9 turnovers and keeping Lakes from converting 8 field goals.

Barnett-Morales had a second jam during that stretch, this one with more of a highlight reel finish. It came after another steal and was capped with Barnett-Morales doing a 360-degree spin before jamming the ball home.

Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule liked the extra energy that Barnett-Morales gave to his team. But he cautioned that his team needed to find its own intensity.

"He had two great dunks that got us going," Yanule said. "But what happens if he doesn't dunk the ball at all? But we have to form our own energy and not just wit for a dunk because he has had only two other dunks this season. That is something we are going to have to work on internally."

The Hawks did come up with a solid defensive effort throughout. They forced 27 turnovers for the game and held Lakes to just 23 field goal attempts.

"Our defense really turned us up," Hoffman guard Jervin Dobbins said. "We were as patient on the offensive end, but our defense was very good."

Lakes coach Chris Snyder said that his team has played well in spurts, but uneven at other times and that has hurt his Eagles.

"We just have gone through these droughts where we have trouble putting the ball in the hoop," Snyder said. "That's a credit to Hoffman. They really picked it up. Those runs have been our bugaboo all year."

Barnett-Morales and Rudra Patel each had 11 points to lead Hoffman Estates while Philip Ziecina added 8 points. Chance Andell led Lakes with 5 points.