Crystal Lake South denies Jacobs
Crystal Lake South’s boys basketball team saved its best effort for the fourth quarter.
Trailing Jacobs 37-29 after three quarters, the Gators outscored the Golden Eagles 27-10 in the fourth quarter and 13-2 in the last 3 minutes, 37 seconds in posting a 56-47 victory in the consolation bracket of the Jacobs Holiday Classic in Alqonquin Thursday morning.
“This was one of our better games of the season,” said South coach Dan DeBruycker. “We have had a lot of close games in the fourth quarter, but we finished strong today. We did a good job defensively in the fourth quarter. The 1-3-1 trap, the press and the man-to-man were all effective. The kids trusted themselves and we had the right kids at the free throw line.”
The Gators (2-8) will play Bartlett Friday at 1:30 p.m. for the Consolation C title while Jacobs (1-8) will take on Marian Central at 9 a.m.
Making 24-of-31 from the free throw line for the game for 79 percent, the Gators were clutch at the line in the fourth quarter, converting on 14-of-15 for 94 percent.
Will Ahsmann, who led South with 15 points, was 10-of-11 from the stripe and 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter.
“It was nice to contribute more than just defense to the team,” said Ahsmann. “It was nice to hit some shots and free throws, because I have really struggled. We have lost some tough games in the fourth quarter to good teams. This was a good win.”
Down by 8 to start the fourth quarter, the Gators sliced into the lead early with a 3-pointer from Ahsmann and a conventional 3-point play from Alex Bartusch to cut the Jacobs lead to 37-35 with 6:22 left.
The Gators took the lead for good 47-45 on 2 free throws from Matt Benoit with 1:55 left.
South, which went on a 8-0 run, grabbed a 8-point lead, 53-45, after 2 free throws from Eric Schiller with 1 minute left.
A layup by Brad Cleveland with 49 seconds left closed the Gator gap to 53-47. Those were the last points Jacobs would score.
Nick Geske backed up Ahsmann with 13 points while Bartusch scored 12.
Ross Ryan came off the Jacobs bench to score 14 points, while Will Schwerdtman tallied 11 for Jacobs.
“We had way too many turnovers,” said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. “They were the more aggressive team and seemed more interested
in winning the game.”