Crystal Lake South clamps down on Cary-Grove

The Crystal Lake South boys basketball team was back in an all too familiar scenario early in the fourth quarter Friday against rival Cary-Grove, watching another lead slip away. But instead of reliving its own version of Groundhog Day, senior Matt Schingel personally made sure the Gators sealed the deal this time around. Schingel gated the Trojans' second-half surge when he nailed South's second 3-pointer of the game from the right corner with 5:30 remaining, which helped the Gators take a 38-27 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win at The Swamp after the Trojans cut a 10-point halftime deficit to 3 a minute prior. And up to Schingel's deep 3, South had missed its last 13 shots from deep.

"That was enormous, we were searching for any type of offense," said Gators' coach Matt LePage, who admitted that maybe his team shot too many 3-pointers to start. "It was such a desperate game for us to win because we had been struggling. We just kept telling the guys someone's going to make one and (Schingel) had the guts to step up and do it."

And did South ever need it. Coming in, the Gators (12-7, 2-2) had lost 2-straight and 4 of their last 5, leading late in 3 of those games. With a tight lid on both rims that brought more of a defensive effort between the teams, the deep-range dagger was the antithesis of a football-like game. C-G scored 7 first half points and Schingel's shot was South's only attempt of the fourth.

"I think in the first half we were 1-for-12 on threes so for me to hit that shot and give us a little boost, it really helped push us to the next level," said Schingel, who had 5 rebounds.

"Matt made the big one. When we needed the big shot, Schingel hit it," LePage said. "Not only did he defend (Jason) Gregoire, he made the big shot."

Which were an absolute premium as Cary-Grove (8-9, 1-3) made just 12 of its 44 attempts for a 27.2 percent clip whereas South connected only 11 on 29 attempts for 37.9 percent. The Trojans didn't heat up until the third quarter when Nick Barr (6 points) scored 4-straight points to begin the half and C-G finished the quarter 5-for-12 to pull within 6 while forcing 4 turnovers.

"They came with energy in the third and you expect that from a team like them," LePage said. "Anytime it's a rivalry game and it's physical and you're playing every possession, it's going to call for a tough shooting night."

Trojans' leading scorer Jason Gregoire (4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) scored half of his 10 points in a 37-second span in the fourth to cut the Gators' lead to 26-23 with 6:30 left but after Schingel's clutch shot, Cary-Grove reverted back to its cold shooting and South drained 11 of its 14 free throws to finish things off.

"We had a lot of shots go in and out. You just need one or two to fall and you get your confidence and we just couldn't get one or two of those shots," Trojans' coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "I thought our shot selection was good. I thought we got shots whether we were in the paint or penetrating or some open looks, we just couldn't get a ball to fall."

South's defense did have a say as the 27 points allowed was the fewest this season while Cary-Grove (13 turnovers) lost its third-straight and featured its lowest scoring output of the year.

"Schingel did a good job of locking down Gregoire and then we all just stuck to our assignments like coach told us to and we executed well," said Tyler Baker, who led South with 10 points. "It was more of a slow pace game but I think the mindset on defense was more important than scoring on offense so we were focusing more on defense than offense."