Hampshire lets one slip away vs. Prairie Ridge
When Jake Tuttle scored on a layup off a perfect feed from Matt Bridges, Hampshire held a narrow 46-44 lead against host Prairie Ridge with 6:55 remaining.
It figured to be a close game the rest of the way with either team having a chance to win.
It didn't happen that way.
The visiting Whip-Purs connected on only 1 field goal down the stretch and were outscored by the Wolves 20-4.
PR's strong finish produced a 64-50 win in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division boys basketball action in Crystal Lake Friday night.
"We had some silly turnovers in the fourth quarter and they had some easy breakout baskets," said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. "Their pressure certainly bothered us. We can learn from this game and move on."
Down 2 early in the fourth quarter, PR (7-10, 3-2) started to seize control of the game with a 12-0 run. The pivotal run was spearheaded by a pair of baskets from Chris Bradshaw, a 3-pointer by Payton Otto and baskets from Logan Card and Joe Kinowski.
The Wolves' surge turned a 2-point deficit into a 10-point 56-46 advantage with 2:22 left in the game.
Hampshire (13-3, 3-1), which went scoreless for a little over 5 minutes, broke the scoring drought on 2 free throws by Austin Spaeth with 1:40 left to slice the PR deficit to 8, 56-48.
The Wolves ensured victory by scoring 6 unanswered points on 6-of-9 from the free throw line as Otto made 3-of-4 and Dylan Stenzel connected on a pair of charity tosses as the Wolves held a 62-48 lead with 33 seconds left in the contest.
"Hampshire had some open looks and missed some shots they usually make," said PR coach Corky Card. "The kids really scrambled tonight and our pressure was very good. The kids really played hard. Our motto was compete or get beat. This was a very good win against a very talented Hampshire team."
The Whip-Purs landed two players in double figures with Bridges scoring 16 and Brennen Woods netting 13 with 3 treys.
Otto led PR with 22 which included three 3s. Jack Berg scored 16 with 13 rebounds.
"It was Jack Berg's best game of the year," said Card. "He was aggressive at both ends of the floor."
Bradshaw added 10 points off the bench for PR.