Hampshire nets 6th straight win

The rule of thumb in basketball is that if you put a shot off the glass, you've got to call 'bank.'

In his mind, Hampshire center Tyler Watzlawick said he did, but Whip-Purs' coach Bob Barnett didn't hear him.

"I went in and I joke with him all the time, and I said, 'Nice bank free throw'. (Watzlawick) goes, 'Hey, I'm taking the point.' "

With Watzlawick at the line and Hampshire nursing a 47-44 lead with 42.4 seconds remaining, Crystal Lake Central hoped he'd miss the front end, which he did the two previous times.

Instead, Watzlawick nailed it as Hampshire went 8-for-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to seal a come-from-behind 52-47 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division boys basketball win over Crystal Lake Central, in which the Whip-Purs rallied down from as much as 11 in the second quarter to earn their sixth-straight win.

"That was probably the worst first half that I've had a team play," Barnett said. "I don't know if we were intimidated, but give them credit, (we) righted the ship."

Before Hampshire (8-7, 1-1) took the lead for good on Watzlawick's offensive rebound putback on the first possession of the fourth quarter, the Whip-Purs were outscored 14-5 in the first quarter by Central (11-3, 0-1), committed 6 turnovers and shot a dismal 2-for-11 from the field.

"It starts with intensity, we started off really slow," said Watzlawick, who fell a rebound shy of a double-double. "We didn't prepare ourselves before the game to come in at all."

Whip-Purs guard Tyler Crater fueled the comeback with 3 3-pointers in the second quarter, helping Hampshire get within 5 at the half.

"(Central) in the first half, they dictated play and I thought they did a real good job with their defense," Barnett said.

Then Watzlawick dictated things in the third. He used his 6-foot-6 inch frame scoring 6 of his game-high 16 points in the third, including a basket off a back cut late in the quarter to give Hampshire its first lead of the night. The Whips had come a far way from being down 16-5 at one point and 25-20 at the half.

"At halftime I think we decided we were sick of losing," Crater said.

A 9-2 Hampshire run to open the fourth was capped by a Shane Hernandez layup off a pass from Crater with 4:22 left to gave the Whip-Purs a 40-33 lead. That also capped a 20-8 run from halftime as it would set Central's fate.

Crater, who was clutch when Hampshire needed it, scored 16 points and torched the Tigers on 4 bombs from downtown.

Hampshire outrebounded Central 28-18 and Brock Ralphs was 6-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter. Watzlawick's 16 points gave him 900 in his Hampshire career. Chase Cane led Central with 16 points.