Weaver heats up, leads Cary-Grove past Crystal Lake S.
Cary-Grove senior Ryan Weaver was frustrated that he had not provided the Trojans more scoring this season.
That was not a problem, however, Thursday night. Weaver came out blazing, scoring 17 points in the first half, which he finished by nailing a 65-footer from the opposite 3-point line.
"It felt good, but from that far away you can't really tell," Weaver said. "Just try to get it near the rim and hope it goes in."
The Trojans played what C-G coach Adam McCloud called "the best game we've played all season" to beat Crystal Lake South, 58-43, in their Fox Valley Conference boys basketball game at The Swamp.
The win sets up C-G (7-2, 6-2 FVC) to play Huntley (7-2, 6-2) for second place at 7 p.m. Friday in C-G's Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
Weaver scored 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers and also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
"Throughout the year, I haven't been shooting it the way I want to, let alone being assertive enough to help my team win," Weaver said. "Especially that was proved (Wednesday) in our loss to Crystal Lake Central (38-36). It wasn't just me (tonight), if it was anybody else, they would have been hitting the same thing."
The Trojans hit six 3s in the first half for a 32-22 lead. Weaver added his fourth 3 early in the third quarter.
"He was struggling shooting the ball," McCloud said. "He made that first one and probably thought, 'I have to shoot another one.' He makes that and the weight from all those misses fell off of him. He's done so much of the little things for us, he leads us in rebounding, he's our best passer. We were waiting for this game (for him)."
Mike Clarke hit two 3s in the first half and scored 12. Drew Sepeczi added 10 and also hit a pair of 3s.
"Tonight, overall, everything we did much better than last night and previous games," Sepeczi said. "We played like a team way more than last night. We moved the ball much better and got more open shots."
Weaver took the inbound pass right before halftime, took one dribble and launched his long shot that hit nothing but net. He raised his hand and ran off the court, yelling, "Let's go!" to his teammates.
South (3-6, 3-5) was playing its fifth game in five days after a nine-day quarantine because of COVID-19 protocol. The Gators were led by Brock Jewson with 15 points and Cooper LePage added 11 points.
Gators coach Matt LePage had a bad feeling when Weaver started off hot. The 6-foot-2 lefty was 9 of 14 from the field.
"I knew it was going to be a tough night," Matt LePage said. "He's a good ballplayer. We just have to embrace the idea of seven games in seven days. Make the most of your minutes. It's OK to tug your jersey if you need to come out."
South finishes the FVC regular season hosting Hampshire at 7 p.m. Friday, then will host the Whip-Purs (0-9, 0-8) at 1 p.m. Saturday in an FVC Tournament play-in game. South is locked into the No. 7 seed, Hampshire will be the No. 10.
"It's an interesting place to be, but hey, we're here and we get the opportunity to play," LePage said. "Remember during the winter, we didn't think we were going to get to play. We still get to play basketball."