It's all good for Hoffman Estates

When your opponent has three times as many turnovers as field goals in the first half, you know your team is doing something right.

On Saturday night, Hoffman Estates couldn't do anything wrong as it defeated Crystal Lake Central 67-31 in the final game of the Crystal Lake Central Coaches vs. Cancer Thanksgiving Tournament.

"Every once in awhile you run into that game where everything goes right," said Hoffman coach Bill Wandro, whose team opens conference play Friday against Fremd. "But we've been on the other side of that - we know how that feels."

Not on Saturday. After Crystal Lake Central scored on its opening possession - a 15-foot jumper from senior Will Streit - the Hawks (3-0) held the tourney hosts to just 2 more field goals and 7 more points in the first half.

Crystal Lake Central, which committed 9 turnovers in the opening 16 minutes, didn't break into double-digit scoring until senior Nick Inzerillo banked in a free-throw line jumper with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

"Our thing is extreme ball pressure - when we don't do that, we get in trouble," Hoffman forward Chris Hall said.

Hall was having no trouble down low, scoring 8 of the Hawks' first 16 points, all on layups, and posting a season-high 19 points. The 6-foot-2 senior was the beneficiary of several pinpoint passes from senior guard Luke Mead, who was picking apart the Tigers' defense.

"I've been playing with Luke for a long time - we're good at reading each other," said Hall, who is averaging 14.3 points.

Mead hit 3 of 4 from 3-point range and scored 9 of his 15 points in the first quarter, but was just as steady on the defensive end. His steal and breakaway layup sparked an 18-3 run to end the first quarter.

"He's trying to get an all-around game," Wandro said. "Sometimes a good scorer isn't good defensively, but he's working on it. If you can get a kid that'll do that, it motivates everyone else."

Brandon Fischer added 8 points and 3 boards, while fellow junior Jon Bialek scored 6 for Hoffman.

Avery Schafer led the Tigers with 6 points.