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Crystal Lake Central downs Hampshire

When Nathan Cork drilled a long 3-pointer from deep in the left corner Hampshire tied host Crystal Lake Central 23-23 with 2:46 left in the first half.

At that juncture of the game it seemed the Whip-Purs were ready to battle the Tigers for 32 minutes but that scenario never materialized for the visiting Whips.

Scoring the final 7 points of the first half, Central grabbed a 30-23 advantage after 16 minutes of action.

Crystal Lake Central scored 4 more points to start the second half to complete a 11-0 run and cruised to a 58-45 Fox Valley Conference boys basketball win in Crystal Lake Wednesday night.

"Big runs have really hurt us all year," said Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse. "We have had double-digit runs against us all year. If you take those runs away we are in every game. It is the same old, same old. We have to find a way to play with full effort for 32 minutes."

Central junior center Alex Timmerman, who scored 25 points with 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots, spearheaded the Tigers' 7-point surge with 6 points on 3-of-3 from the floor.

Evan Cassell canned a 15-footer and Timmerman scored on a putback as the Tigers (4-4, 3-1) extended their 7-point halftime lead to 34-23 with 6:57 left in the third quarter.

Hampshire (2-6, 0-4), which didn't score for 5 minutes, 14 seconds, broke the scoring drought on a dunk by Collin Woods to cut the Tigers' lead to 34-25 with 5:32 left in the third quarter.

The Whip-Purs climbed to within 7, 43-36, with 6 minutes left on a trey by J.D. Shaw. Hampshire couldn't get any closer.

Central's biggest lead was 55-39 after a layup by Christian Lerum.

Timmerman was joined in double digits by Lerum with 10 points and 4 assists.

"Even during the run I thought we were sloppy with the ball and I wasn't happy at halftime," said Central coach Rich Czeslawski. "We had too many unforced turnovers. Give Hampshire some credit for our sloppy play. I was happy with the way we played in third quarter. We have to finish off teams and not let them to hang around. We are playing a lot of juniors and we have a long ways to go to be a good team. I have to be patient."

Cork led the Whips with 12 points including a pair of 3s while Woods (11 rebounds) and Shaw (3 treys) added 10 points each.

"Timmerman is a tough matchup for us because we are smaller," said Whitehouse. "He is a load and plays very hard. I have a lot of respect for him. He has improved each year."

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