Crater’s game-winner gives Hampshire 10th straight

DeKALB — Hampshire’s boys basketball team keeps finding ways to win.

On Saturday, Tyler Crater drove the length of the floor and buried a floater with 3 seconds left as the Whip-Purs edged Chicago Vocational, 49-48, in the Chuck Dayton Tournament in DeKalb.

Hampshire, 2-0 in the tournament, won its 10th straight overall after a season-opening loss to Rockford Lutheran.

After trailing most of the second half, CVS went ahead on a pair of free throws by Antwone Smith with 8.6 seconds left. The Cavaliers then called timeout, allowing Hampshire to set up the final play.

“We had two options off that (play), actually,” said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. “It was going to go to Tyler or to (Ryan) Cork. One was going to run to the wing or the corner. The other was going to try to penetrate and draw the defense and kick. If that wasn’t the case, we wanted to try and get the ball into the lane.”

“We had a play drawn up expecting them to be in a man-to-man press,” said Crater. “But they came out in what looked to be a three-quarters-court zone. We just said, ‘Whatever,’ it will still work.”

Crater cut across the court as Shane Hernandez screened two defenders. When no one else came up on him, he took it all the way.

Crater finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds for Hampshire (10-1). Hernandez added 12 points and 10 boards.

Michael Taylor scored 19 points for CVS (7-3).

Hampshire trailed by as many as 6 points in the first half, but took the lead just before halftime by hitting 3-pointers on 4 consecutive possessions. Crater sandwiched 2 around a pair by Cork. For the game, Hampshire made six 3-pointers to only 2 for CVS.

Hernandez helped neutralize the Cavaliers’ 6-foot-7 forward, Michael Rollins. Rollins scored 8 points on offensive rebounds in the first half, but had just 4 points total after the break. In all, CVS had 9 offensive rebounds in the first half and just 2 after.