Huntley hits boards for victory
Rebounding was identified on Huntley's big board as one of the keys going into Tuesday's boys basketball game against McHenry.
Mike Gonzaga took care of the big boards from thereafter. Gonzaga's 2 offensive putbacks keyed a 16-4 run to close out the first half and help guide the Red Raiders to a 56-49 Fox Valley Conference crossover victory.
"He hustles a lot," Huntley coach Marty Manning said of Gonzaga. "He has a motor that doesn't quit. (Offensive rebounding) was really our offense during that 16-4 run."
The Red Raiders (4-2) needed a motor that wouldn't quit after allowing McHenry (2-5) a 20-10 first-half lead.
McHenry was able to take that lead in large part because of its 3-point shooting. The Warriors went 4 of 5 from beyond the arc in the first quarter with Pat Bellich (13 points) connecting twice. McHenry would go just 30 percent (3 of 10) from 3-point range the rest of the game.
The Red Raiders responded with a 16-4 run to close out the first half with a 26-24 lead. Gonzaga finished the first half with 6 rebounds, including 3 offensive.
"We just needed to be patient and run our offense," said Gonzaga, who finished the first half 11 of his team-high 13 points.
The Red Raiders took their final lead of the game when point guard Diego Quintero (4 points, 3 assists) hit a layup to put Huntley up 36-35 with 2:51 left in the third. McHenry would bring the game to 2 points four times but every time the Red Raiders had an answer.
Quintero sank a pair of free throws with 3:09 left in the fourth quarter to put the Red Raiders up 47-43. Brett DePorter nabbed a steal ran the length of the floor and put Huntley up 49-43 to seal the victory. DePorter finished with a pair of steals in the game's final minutes.
"DePorter and his defense in the final minutes really helped," Manning said.
With Huntley focusing on the guards, McHenry went inside on its first two possessions of the second half with Chris Madson. The center converted both times and was able to take tie the game at 28, but McHenry did not go down low to Madson until the game's final two minutes.
But McHenry coach Tim Paddock cited the closing run of the first half as its undoing.
"We you get someone at home up 10, you need to finish it," Paddock said. "We didn't play very well. It looked like a Tuesday night in a blizzard."
Tom Giordano and Zac Boster finished with 11 points apiece for the Red Raiders, with Zach Borter adding 11 for the Warriors.
Boys basketball
Grayslake Central 51, Dundee-Crown 36: The Grayslake Central boys basketball team put on a clinic in the first quarter of Tuesday's home game against Dundee-Crown.
After junior Charles Kimbrough scored a basket on Dundee-Crown's first possession, the Rams scored 15 consecutive points and led 15-4 after eight minutes. The Rams cruised from there for a 51-36 victory.
At one point, Dundee-Crown turned the ball over on seven consecutive possessions. The Chargers had 9 turnovers in the first quarter and 18 by halftime. Grayslake Central's defense even impressed the team's harshest critic, coach Tim Bowen.
"We haven't played any better defense than that," Bowen said. "I'm proud of the kids. We did a great job with our ball pressure."
Midway through the first quarter, Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber had to call two timeouts in the span of less than a minute.
"Grayslake made us play faster than we wanted to," he said. "We didn't make good decisions and we rushed our passes. Give Grayslake credit. We won't be the last team this happens to."
The Rams (5-2) increased their lead to 20-4 before the Chargers (2-3) scored a pair of baskets.
"I still thought we had an opportunity," Huber said.
Instead, the Rams enjoyed a double-digit advantage for the rest of the game.
"We did a good job of focusing and showing mental toughness," Bowen said.
Grayslake junior forward Alex Anderson scored seven consecutive points near the end of the third quarter. On his last basket, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, he turned his left ankle when he landed. Anderson missed the rest of the game, and Bowen said he will be evaluated today. Anderson was 5 of 5 from the field on 2-pointers and 2 of 3 from behind the arc.
Senior forward Jared Zygmunt and junior guard Mike Brumm each scored 9 points. Dundee-Crown junior Freddie Parson had a team-high 10 points.
The Rams' ability to move the ball created high-percentage shots.
"We tried to run our motion offense from inside out," Bowen said. "We made good cuts to the basket."
-- Bob Gosman
CL South 35, CL Central 32 (2 OTs):ŒIt is almost impossible to win when you make 1 basket and score 13 points in the final 12 minutes of a game.
Crystal Lake South found a way.
Despite miserable shooting for 40 minutes, the Gators were able to pull out a 35-32 double overtime win over crosstown rival Crystal Lake Central in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game at Central Tuesday night.
"We were horrible offensively," said South coach Dan DeBruycker. "We need to slow down and I need find more depth on the bench. We won with defense."
The Gators, who made only 11 of 44 shots for 25 percent, looked in serious jeopardy of losing in the first overtime. Central's Carson Sterchi made 1 of 2 free throws with 6.6 seconds left to give the Tigers a 30-28 lead.
The Gators (4-2) rushed the ball up the court and got the ball in the hands of Chris Reuter. Reuter, who drove aggressively to the basket, was fouled while shooting with 1.5 seconds left.
Central coach Rich Czeslawski called a time out in an attempt to rattle the South senior.
Czeslawski's tactics didn't worked.
Reuter calmly sank both free throws to send the game into a second overtime.
"I was just in the zone," said Reuter. "I totally blocked out the crowd and just went up to the line and shot free throws the way I normally do."
DeBruycker praised Reuter's effort.
"That is an extremely tough position to be in," said the South coach. "He had no margin for error. He had to make both or we lose. He just showed a lot of poise and just went to the line and made both of them. I don't think either one hit any part of the rim. They were both all net."
South, which was 0 of 6 from the field in the second overtime, outscored Central 5-2 from the free-throw line. The Gator defense didn't allow the Tigers a point in the second extra session until Josh Polk canned 2 free throws with 12.3 seconds to play.
Zack Carpenter and Eric Wilde made 2 free throws each in the second OT for the winners.
The Tigers, who are known as a team that bases its offense on the 3-pointer, made only 4 of 20 from beyond the arc for 20 percent. The Tigers were 0 of 10 from 3-point land in the first half.
"We wanted to limit them to five 3-pointers for the game and they got only four," said DeBruycker. "We did a great job of contesting their 3s."
Wilde and sub Steven Rogers led the Gators with 7 points each. Sterchi, who had a pair of 3s, led Central with 13.
-- Dave Hess
Jacobs 84, Grayslake North 46: The Moran brothers -- John and Tim -- scored 17 points each as Jacobs (4-1) rolled to an easy Fox Valley Conference crossover win in Grayslake.
John Moran's 17 points give him 1,530 for his career, just 29 shy of tying Eric Verneisel's school record.
Conrad Krutwig added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, who had 13 players score in the game.
Jacobs led 36-20 at halftime before putting the game away with a 29-9 third quarter.
Stillman Valley 52, Hampshire 51: T. J. Burzak scored 14 points and Justin Bieber added 11 but the Whip-Purs (2-3) fell in this Big Northern crossover.
Hampshire trailed 41-36 going into the fourth quarter and mounted a comeback that fell just short.
Will Bush added 9 points for the Whips.
Girls basketball
St. Charles East 41, Glenbard North 20: It was a case of déjà vu for St. Charles East's girls basketball team Tuesday night.
Three days after holding Neuqua Valley to 8-of-40 shooting from the field during a 39-20 triumph, the Saints' defense again showed its stingy side en route to a 41-20 nonconference victory over Glenbard North in St. Charles.
The Panthers connected on just 8 of 40 field-goal attempts while the Saints (4-4), who pocketed their third straight victory, also won the rebounding battle 38-25.
"What I'm real pleased with defensively is you give up the outside shot, but I don't want to give up second and third shots," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "We rarely did that (tonight)."
Trailing 5-2, the Saints went on a 16-2 tear over the next seven minutes to take control. Lexi Baltes scored all 5 of her points during the run, while Tasha Lalos added a 3-pointer and Jaime Rust made a pair of baskets, including a turnaround jumper.
"That was a sweet little move she made on the low block, turning and hitting that little fadeaway," Drumtra said. "I was like, 'Where did that come from?' "
The 5-foot-9 Rust, who led the Saints with 9 points and 6 rebounds, held her own down low trying to defend Panthers 6-foot forward Megan Ney and 5-10 forward Lauren Verner.
"You just have to get in front of them, stay tough, stay strong and box out," Rust said.
"She's our defensive specialist," Drumtra said of Rust. "She and Lexi (Baltes) kind of set the bar for us on defense."
The Saints also received significant contributions from their bench as Tara Sigona, Stephanie Roan, Lauren Joyce, Shannon Kennedy, Ashley Miller and Laura Aavang combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds.
"That was nice," Drumtra said. "That's the first game they've been able to do that. They got some quality time tonight."
After a slow start at the Schaumburg tournament, the Saints have worked their way back to the .500 mark.
"We've got our Christmas tournament (Wheaton North) seeding meeting (today) and I feel good about going there saying we're 4-4," Drumtra said.
Ney scored 7 points to pace the Panthers, who committed 19 turnovers.
"It's hard to get continuity when we turn the ball over," said Glenbard North coach Mark Glenn. "That's our biggest problem right now."
-- Craig Brueske