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Huntley survives CL South's last-second shot

Despite missing two starters due to suspensions and another key contributor due to an injury, Crystal Lake South's boys basketball team still had a shot to beat visiting Huntley in the final seconds Tuesday.

Trailing by a bucket with 5.1 seconds left, the Gators inbounded the ball to 6-foot-6 center Tyler Dawson at the top of the circle.

Dawson tried to drive the left side of the lane past defender Justin Frederick, but he was met with defensive help from Huntley's Tyler Brunschon.

Dawson instinctively passed the ball out to the left wing to guard Ryan Price. The senior had a good look, but his potential game-winning 3-pointer caught the front of the rim and caromed to the floor as time ran out in Huntley's 45-43 victory in the Valley Division opener for both Fox Valley Conference teams.

“I saw (Dawson) pass it and thought, ‘Oh, boy this would not be good,'” Frederick said of Price's open look. “I knew my coach would not have been happy with that. But now I can have a good night. We're good.”

The final play didn't go exactly to plan for the Gators, but they couldn't quibble with the opportunity that arose.

“It's a play we've run over and over and over,” CL South coach Dan DeBruycker said. “We had a couple of guys in the wrong spot, but an unselfish pass to an open teammate for a pretty decent look to win is all we can ask for.”

It was an important divisional road victory for balanced Huntley (12-3, 1-0), which was led offensively by juniors Troy Miller (11 points) and Dylan Neukirch (10) as well as Brunschon (10), a senior.

For Crystal Lake South (9-5, 0-1), just being in position for a possible game-winning shot was about the best the Gators could have asked for considering they fell behind by 13 points in the third quarter without the services of Kevin Rogers, Ethan Breitenstein and Trevor Thompson.

Thompson, on crutches, was unavailable and may remain so with a knee injury. Rogers served the first of a 3-game suspension while Breitenstein served the first of a 7-game suspension, both for violating school rules. Rogers leads the Gators in scoring with 15 points per game. Point guard Breitenstein is second on the team (7.5 ppg).

Senior Tyler Kretchmer (6-5) turned in a season-high 15 points to go with 6 rebounds in their absence. He scored 8 of his points in the second quarter against smaller Huntley, a trend that forced the Red Raiders to switch to their seldom-used 2-3 zone defense.

The switch proved effective. The Gators were unable to get the ball inside as easily and went cold from the perimeter. After Kretchmer sank a turnaround jump shot in the lane to give CL South a 17-14 lead with 4:03 left in the second quarter, the Red Raiders went on a 23-6 run that lasted deep into the third quarter.

Dylan Neukirch's 3-pointer tied the game at 17 and Bryce Only's putback lifted Huntley to a 27-21 lead at the intermission.

“We tried to make them shoot from outside because they were just killing us down low,” Huntley coach Marty Manning said. “Their game plan seemed to be to pound it inside because that's all they were doing.”

Both teams shot 16 of 38 from the field and the Gators dominated the boards, 30-16. However, CL South didn't make its run at the lead until Neukirch had put Huntley ahead 39-26 with an inside move with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.

Senior guard Colin Stich answered with a 3-pointer that pulled the Gators within 10 points heading to the fourth quarter, and a pair of 3-pointers from Xoni Veseli helped chisel down the deficit further.

Kretchmer's three-point play followed by his short jumper in the lane drew the Gators within 45-43 with 1:11 left.

Huntley's Only subsequently missed the front end of the bonus with 21.9 seconds left, setting up CL South's last-second shot attempt.

“The kid had a good look,” Manning said. “It was make or miss. Fortunately for us, he missed.”

Images: Huntley vs. Crystal Lake South boys basketball

  Huntley’s Dylan Neukirch and Jake Brock, right, pressure Crystal Lake South’s Xoni Veseli Tuesday in Crystal Lake. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Huntley ‘s Amanze Egekeze and Crystal Lake South’s Xoni Veseli claw for a rebound Tuesday in Crystal Lake. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com