Grayslake Central handles CL Central
More efforts like the one he had in Wednesday night’s Fox Valley Conference Fox Division showdown, and Danny Reed might never be called “Donny” Reed again.
Grayslake Central basketball coach Brian Moe joked that the Rams have been calling the 5-foot-10 junior “Donny” since a program typo at the State Farm Holiday Classic had the tournament PA announcer and even some media unknowingly calling Reed by the wrong first name.
“It’s just another name,” said Reed, not bothered by the mistake.
The only “o” “Donny” had Wednesday night was a second-half burst of offense, as Reed helped Grayslake Central rally for a 58-47 win over visiting Crystal Lake Central.
The win moved Grayslake Central (12-5) to 4-0 in the FVC Fox, while dropping Crystal Lake Central (13-4) to 2-2 in the division.
The Rams overcame a 31-29 halftime deficit — and scoreless opening half by leading scorer Jordan Taylor — by outscoring the Tigers 13-5 in the third quarter to win their fourth in a row and 10th in 12 games.
“We tried not to make this game more important than any other game, but I think the kids really felt it,” Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe said. “Central came in here and put a pretty good thumping on us last year (79-68 loss). I reminded the kids of the rivalry going on here. I told them just to relax. We’ve been in big games. We played Rock Island. We played North Chicago. We played Waukegan.”
Reed provided the home team a big spark, scoring 8 of his 12 points in the third. His quarter included a steal and layup, 3-pointer and three-point play.
“Jordan was struggling so I thought maybe I should take a couple of more shots than usual,” Reed said. “Just give it a shot.”
Grayslake Central headed into the fourth up 42-36 after Taylor hit a pull-up jumper with two seconds left.
“We came out hard on defense (to start the third), and I think that helped our offense,” Reed said. “We started picking up the energy.”
Reed added 2 fourth-quarter free throws down the stretch. He finished with 5 steals and 4 rebounds, too.
“I think that was Danny’s best floor game, all in all,” said Moe, who promoted Reed from the sophomore team in mid-January last year. “If our kids had just seen some of the cuts he made. He’d come up, (Crystal Lake Central) would deny, and he would back-cut and be wide open. He (also) played great defense on a bigger kid, his kid didn’t get offensive rebounds, and he handled the ball well. It was just a great all-around game for him.”
Taylor came in averaging 20.3 points, but Tigers defensive stopper Nick Marchetti helped limit the explosive guard to 0-of-9 shooting in the first half.
Taylor didn’t score until finishing a layup and three-point play with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. That came after a steal and dish by Sean Geary, who provided a lift coming off the bench with 6 points and 3 steals.
Grayslake Central’s 6-9 Casey Boyle scored all of his game-high 13 points in the first half, while also grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 3 shots. Taylor, Tyler Smith (7 rebounds) and Savonte McWilliams all had 9 points.
Taylor’s point total represented a season low and marked the first time he did not score in double figures.
“We all had to step it up,” said McWilliams, who also had 3 steals and went 4 of 4 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. “We knew Jordan was having an ‘off’ day. So it was a big thing for the rest of the starters to step up.”
Corban Murphy and Chase Cane led Crystal Lake Central with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Jake Vanscoyoc ended the first quarter by banking in a three-quarters-court shot from in front of the Tigers’ bench.
Fortunately for the Rams, the shot of the night didn’t ruin their night.
“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback that (Crystal Lake Central) is better than us,” McWilliams said. “We had to come out and show them who was the best team. I think we’re one of the best teams in the Fox Valley.”