Leva's last-second jumper lifts Crystal Lake South over Streamwood

With time running out and the score tied against Streamwood Saturday morning at Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic, Crystal Lake South senior Kyle Leva didn't have any option but shoot.

And that's a good thing for the Gators.

Leva took a pass from Matthew Reall, who drove baseline but was cut off. Streamwood's Lamont Cole deflected the pass, forcing Leva to quickly gather the ball and rise up from the left wing.

Leva buried the 15-foot jumper with .5 seconds remaining, giving Crystal Lake South its second straight win at the tournament, 47-45.

"He (Reall) made a good pass to me and I lost it a little but I was able to regroup and get the shot off," Leva said. "I wasn't really sure (it was going in). I was just getting the shot up because time was close."

Crystal Lake South (6-5) led the entire game until a tip-in by Keenon Cole with 1:57 remaining put the Sabres up 42-41.

Tyler Haskin tied the score with a free throw, then came up with a steal that led to Leva's layup and a 44-42 lead for the Gators.

Jack Maybrun sank a 3-pointer with 1:01 left to put the Sabres up 45-44. Ben Geske's free throw knotted the score, and Streamwood turned the ball over in the final 30 seconds to set up Leva's game-winner.

"Kyle can make that midrange shot and rose to the occasion for sure," Crystal Lake South coach Matt LePage said.

The Sabres (4-8) had one last chance, and Cole caught a full-court pass and got a quick shot off from about 12 feet that was off the mark.

"We chip away, we get back into it, and then we make a couple mistakes that open it right back up," said Sabres assistant coach Ryan Smith, who was filling in for head coach Paul Kowalyszyn (sick). "The little mistakes will come back to bite you. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot."

Cole led both teams with 15 points and 16 rebounds as the Sabres shook off a slow start to nearly steal the win. The Gators built leads of 18-13 after one quarter and 26-18 at halftime behind Blake Kueffel's three 3-point baskets and a defense that held Streamwood to 33 percent shooting (7 for 21) in the first half.

Reall's basket early in the third quarter gave Crystal Lake South its biggest lead at 30-21 before the Sabres started pulling closer. Cole's conventional 3-point play on a strong inside move brought Streamwood within 39-36, and after his dunk was called off on a charge, Brendon Marton stepped into the passing lane for a steal and 2 free throws to make it 39-38.

"We played hard the second half of the game but it's kind of the same story as yesterday," said Smith, whose team had 19 turnovers. "We don't show up for all 32 minutes. Today we played for 16. Second half we distributed the basketball better, played more as a team, got our big guys some touches and hit the offensive boards harder. We have all the pieces, it's just a matter of wanting to do it."

Kueffel led a balanced Gators attack with 11 points. Leva scored 10, as did Patrick Fischer off the bench.

Leva said Crystal Lake South was especially looking forward to playing the Sabres who knocked them out of the postseason last year.

"It was a big win for us," Leva said. "We really wanted to use that as a measuring stick to see how much better we've gotten."

The Gators will try to finish 3-0 in their pool when they play Grant at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Streamwood, 0-2 in the tournament, plays Dixon at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"It was an ugly win but we'll take it," LePage said. "You have to give Streamwood credit for coming back. They had us on our heels. I just like the way the guys dug in the last 30 seconds.

"We have a good group of kids. They play hard, they are very connected as a group. We just have to keep playing as hard as we can, and it's good to see these guys having success."