Turnovers hamper Hampshire
Throughout much of the first half of Hampshire's matchup against Rockford East in Pool B play at the 83rd Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament, Whip-Purs' coach Bob Barnett sat on the bench merely speechless.
His Whip-Purs were just as quiet.
After committing 14 turnovers in the first half because of an aggressive Rockford East press, Hampshire trailed by 15 at halftime as Hampshire searched for a way to advance the ball past half court.
Eventually Hampshire awakened, outscoring the E-Rabs 24-12 in the second half, engineered by the dominant post duo of Shane Hernandez and Tyler Watzlawick. East's lead was cut to 1 with 1:41 in the fourth quarter but after several attempts to grab the lead in the final minute, Pat Azizi's left corner game-tying miss at the buzzer ultimately spelled out a 49-46 Whip-Purs loss in DeKalb Tuesday.
"The problem we had in the first half was 14 turnovers," Barnett said. "You can't keep putting yourself in the same position to create a turnover. We're having a real difficult time with that right now and I don't know why."
Hampshire (6-3) began strong by going to Watzlawick and Hernandez (12 points) down in the post but the Whip-Purs couldn't stop East's Deontry Austin inside. His 8 points in the paint were the main reason why Hampshire trailed by 7 into the second quarter.
Rockford East's press led to more Hampshire problems. The lead became 15 on a steal and a jam by East's leading scorer Steve McNease (14 points, 7 for 21 shooting) late in the half. The agitating E-Rabs (8-3) had 10 steals total for the game.
"It was that pressure in the first half," Barnett said. "When you're up 15 in a half, you're going to come out a little bit stale. Give our kids credit, we had it cut down to 6 in the third, we ended up being down 7."
Hampshire protected the ball and went back to Hernandez and Watzlawick, both scoring hoops out of halftime cutting the lead to 11. A 13-4 run made it 41-35 with 2:45 left on Watzlawick's cut to the hoop.
East shot a dismal 4 for 16 in the third, which carried into the fourth as it scored only 4 points hitting just 1 shot. Hernandez' putback with 6:21 left to cut the lead to 3. Azizi's lead to Hernandez with 3:35 left made it 46-44 East. Hernandez earned a double-double with 11 rebounds.
"It was really the guards in the second half that could get the ball to us, and me and Shane went to work," said Watzlawick, who scored 16 points and had 9 rebounds. His hook with 1:41 brought East's lead to 1.
"We had plenty of time, I think we had a 1:09 when we missed the first one inside, (Watzlawick) missed the second one, that's why I called that last timeout. We were going to try get a little flare screen for (Azizi) to see if he could get an open look," Barnett said.
Hampshire, which shot 52 percent and outrebounded East 31-17, will play Chicago Vocational at 10:30 a.m. today.
Boys basketball
CL Central 67, St. Edward 56: Mike Ellis led the Green Wave (3-7) in this loss at the Jacobs Holiday Classic. Zach Brewster added 15 points for the Wave, who take on Chicago Tilden at 10:30 a.m. today.
Huntley 54, Hope Academy 48: The Red Raiders won their pool at the Jacobs Holiday Classic with this win, which was fueled by 17 points from Dylan Neukirch. Jake Brock and Troy Miller added 8 points each for Huntley (9-1), which plays Barrington in today's 6 p.m. semifinal.
Girls basketball
Streamwood 51, Mundelein 44: Playing without 6-foot-3 senior Michelle Tomczak (ankle), Streamwood prevailed in the Mundelein tournament behind 14 points from freshman call-up Hannah McGlone. Emma Schmidt added 10 points, Jessica Cerda 9 and Amanda Patterson 8 for the Sabres (13-1). Streamwood will play for fifth place in the tournament at 5 p.m. Thursday against Rockford Auburn. "We did a good job," said Streamwood coach George Rosner, who won his 298th game at Streamwood. "We struggled at times but we played tough."
Marengo 60, Burlington Central 55: Brenda Thasavong scored 19 points and Alli Settanni had 14 but the Rockets came up on the short end in the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic. Camille Dela Cruz added 11 points for BC (7-8).
Willowbrook 68, Elgin 27: Briana Hamilton had 14 points for the Maroons (0-13) in this loss at the Wheaton North tournament.
West Aurora 48, Jacobs 39: Melanie Schwerdtmann scored 21 points but Jacobs (0-12) fell behind 30-13 at halftime and couldn't recover in this Wheaton North tournament loss.
CL South 53, Marian Central 48: The Gators (2-12) notched a win in the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic behind 27 points from Brittany Pittas, who nailed five 3-pointers. Stephanie Melone added 8 points for CL South.
John Radtke contributed to this report.