Boys basketball: Trivellini sets career high with 32 as Crystal Lake South bests Lakes at Hinkle Holiday Classic

There’s something special about the Eagles’ Nest at Jacobs that brings out the best in Carson Trivellini.

The Crystal Lake South junior scored a career-high 32 points, and the Gators turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter Friday afternoon en route to a 91-77 victory over Lakes at the Hinkle Holiday Classic in Carpentersville.

Trivellini, whose previous-best game was a 30-point effort against Jacobs last year, scored 19 of his points in the middle two quarters (eight in the second quarter, 11 in the third), and the South 1-3-1 half-court trap sparked a 22-0 run over the late second and early third quarters that led to many easy layups for Trivellini and his teammates.

“In the 1-3-1, everyone has to be on the same page and we have to bring the energy. When we’re playing like that, I don’t know anyone who can beat us,” said Trivellini, who added eight assists and four steals and was named to the all-tournament team. “When we lost that energy, they caught us."

South (8-6, 3-1 in the tournament) grabbed a 21-10 lead late in the first after back-to-back dunks from Nick Stowasser (21 points, five rebounds, five steals) before Lakes (6-7) went on a long-range shooting barrage and an 18-1 surge to take a 28-22 lead.

Leading the way was 3-point ace Ben Newcomb (32 points), who knocked down two of his game-high eight 3s in that run. For the game, Lakes made 16 3-pointers.

“They’re an incredibly hot-shooting team. We knew they could shoot the ball. They were playing loose,” said South coach Matt LePage, whose team has won five of its last six. “But we used our defense to get the momentum up and that led to a lot of easy baskets that turned the game. But it was that run at the end of the second quarter and into the third that got us back to how we need to play.”

South outscored the Eagles 34-11 in the pivotal third period. Noah Cook (seven steals, four assists) tallied 10 of his 18 points in the frame in which 12 of South’s 14 baskets were layups.

South also got 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks from Ryan Morgan.

“It was like three different ball games out there. We fought back, but South’s a good team. They turned us over a lot there, and it’s something we have to learn from,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. “We hit a ton of 3s, so it’s nice to know you have the guys who can shoot, but we learned a lot.

“We were 1-3 (in the tournament), but it was a battle tested 1-3 against some really good teams. We learned we can play against the bigger teams and it has us confident for our conference games.”

Both teams return to play on Jan. 7. South takes on Hampshire, while the Eagles travel to North Chicago. Lakes also got 17 points from Dylan McCann and 10 from Carter Martin.

“We knew it would take some time for our guys to find their roles,” LePage said. “You can practice all you want, but until you get real games under your belt you never know what you have. I like our progress and we’re getting better.”