Hampshire wins OT thriller over Huntley
With senior guard Nathan Cork missing most of the game with a severe ankle sprain, Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse was seeking someone to step up in Cork's absence.
Sophomore Collin Woods provided that spark with 30 points including 19 in the fourth quarter and overtime to spearhead Hampshire's 62-61 win over Huntley in Fox Valley Conference action in Hampshire Wednesday night.
"It is a maturing process with Collin," said Whitehouse. "He is still learning the grind of playing varsity basketball. It is a big difference from playing travel ball. With Nathan out, Collin really stepped up and came up with some huge baskets. He did a great job of playing within the flow of the game."
Woods, who was 11-of-15 from the field. also grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.
"Coach Whitehouse always tells me to play aggressively and take my shot when I am open," said Woods. "I had a lot of confidence in my shot and I was playing in the flow of the game. Everybody stepped up and we came up with a big win against our rival."
The Whip-Purs (4-9, 1-4) also got a solid effort from JD Shaw who scored 19 points with 3 3-pointers. Shaw tallied 10 points with a pair of treys in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Hampshire looked in good shape to post a win in regulation when Woods canned a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left to give Hampshire a 53-50 lead.
But, Huntley's Ryan Sroka buried a 3 with 9 seconds left to tie the game at 53-53 to send the game into the extra session.
With 4 lead changes in overtime, Hampshire seized the lead for good at 61-58 on a driving layup by Woods with 22 ticks remaining.
With Hampshire leading 62-58, Huntley's Pat Roppolo was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Roppolo's made all 3 free throws to cut the deficit to 1 but the Red Raiders (3-11, 0-5) couldn't get any closer.
"We held Hampshire to 19 points at halftime and they end up with 62," said Huntley coach Will Benson. "It was ridiculous how poorly we played defense in the second half. Woods is a very streaky player and we let him make the same move every time he had the ball. Pure and simple we didn't make enough stops on defense. This is a very frustrating loss."
Huntley, who was 8-of-12 from 3-point range for 66 percent, was led by Sroka who scored 19 with 3 treys. The sophomore guard scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period.
Cory Knipp scored 13, all in the second half with a pair 3s for the Red Raiders.