South Elgin nips Hampshire
With South Elgin trailing by a point with 2.4 seconds left, everyone in Hampshire’s gym knew who was getting the ball.
Jake Maestranzi took the inbounds pass from in front of the scorer‘s table, beat Tyler Watzlawick around the corner, drove the baseline, and found the basket wide open. He laid it in just ahead of the buzzer, giving the Storm an improbable 31-30 boys basketball victory in nonconference action Tuesday night.
“My dad always told me, if there’s 2.5 seconds you have three dribbles, so I knew I had my three dribbles,” said Maestranzi. “I came off it hard and I was lucky I was open.”
Maestranzi led all scorers with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
Hampshire led 30-26 with 2 minutes left, but couldn’t hang on. The Whip-Purs (1-4) missed 2 one-and-one opportunities and committed 2 critical turnovers in the final minutes.
With just under a minute to go, Maestranzi hit an open 3-pointer to make it 30-29. Hampshire then committed a 10-second violation. The Whips got it back on a steal by Ryan Cork, but were fouled and missed the first free throw, setting up the Storm (4-1) for the final possession.
“We got better,” said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. “That was with just one day of practice. I guess we’ll see what happens coming up.
“That Maestranzi kid, he pump-faked us in the air all day. We went over it, stay on your feet, even if he does shoot you can get a hand on the ball. And he faked us there at the end, too.”
Watzlawick led Hampshire with 10 points, all in the first half. Cork finished with 8 for the Whips. Shane Hernandez, back in the lineup, added 6 points and 5 rebounds.
South Elgin was able to dictate the tempo all night, milking each possession.
“We couldn’t just come down the floor and jack up shots and give them an advantage by playing into their favor,” said South Elgin coach Chaz Taft. “We wanted to take time off the clock and work the possession for the zone. We wanted our best shot for the zone, not just any shot.”
Still, it looked as if Hampshire would beat the Storm at their own game when the Whips scored 7 straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 27-24 lead on a Cork 3-pointer. After 2 free throws by Willy Gagic made it 27-26, Tyler Crater nailed a 3 to put the Whips up 4.
Hampshire shot 50 percent for the game, but attempted just 20 shots. Led by Hernandez, Hampshire outrebounded the visitors, 14-10.
Westminster Christian 57, Chicagoland Jewish 54: The Warriors (2-3) earned a tough victory over a very speedy Chicagoland Jewish team in this nonconference game at home. Will Woodhouse (18 points), Josh Beachler (14 points), and Aaron Wiewel (10 points) each recorded double-figures for the Warriors while Colin Brandon added 7 points.
Christian Liberty Academy 51, Elgin Academy 40: The Hilltoppers (1-4) made a comeback in the fourth quarter, but it was too late as they were defeated 51-40 at home. Connor Flexman paced the Hilltoppers with 26 points.
Harvest Christian 36, Cornerstone 30: Coach Brian Clodi and the Lions earned their first victory of the season as they defeated Cornerstone Christian. Stuart Wolff led all scorers with 15 points.
Men’s basketball
Elgin Community College 78, Kishwaukee College 65: Mike Banks (17 points), Corey Rau (14 points), Lance Nesper (11 points), and Jason Morris (10 points) each reached double-figures as the Spartans (4-4) earned a victory at home.
Courtney LaFerle contributed to this report.