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Hampshire gets hot, knocks off Crystal Lake Central

It was raining 3s in Crystal Lake Friday night.

No. the roof at Crystal Lake Central wasn't leaking.

Hampshire's Nick Erickson and Collin Woods each drained six 3-pointers.

Woods scored 28 points and Erickson 21 as the Whip-Purs were impressive in cruising past the host Tigers 71-56 in Fox Valley Conference action.

Hampshire, 12-of-20 from 3-point range for 60 percent, connected on 27-of-39 from the field for the game for 66 percent.

The Whip-Purs (14-11, 8-4), avenged 2 earlier losses to Crystal Lake Central (14-8, 8-3).

"We simplified our game plan offensively and defensively," said Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse. "We went back to basics. It was an overall team win. Collin and Nick hit some 3s early and that set the tone. We did a great job of sharing the ball and played together. Defensively, we did a better job of contesting their shots than we did the previous 2 games. We are taking a page from our girls play book, We over Me. We are playing well as a team right now."

Woods, 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, added 4 assists with 6 rebounds.

"This was a big win for us," said Woods. "We wanted this one after 2 tough losses. We shared the ball well and I was shooting with a lot of confidence."

Erickson drilled 6-of-10 from 3-point land.

"Our coaches really prepared us well for this game," said Erickson. "We tried to learn from the 2 losses. We made a defensive adjustment and played much better defense in this game. I got in a good groove and was really feeling it."

Trailing the Tigers 14-13 after 1 quarter, the Whip-Purs behind 4 treys from Erickson started the second quarter on a 15-2 run and led 28-16 with 4 minutes left in the first half.

Propelled by 9 points from Alex Timmerman, the Tigers sliced the Hampshire lead in half 33-27 with 50 seconds left.

But Woods ensured Hampshire ended the first half with plenty of momentum with a dunk and a buzzer-beating 3 as the Whip-Purs led 38-27 at intermission.

The Tigers clawed back within 57-50 on a putback by Timmerman with 3:55 left in the game. Crystal Lake Central couldn't get any closer.

A late 3 each by Woods and Erickson and 2 free throws from Jackson Millison sealed the win for Hampshire.

"Central came at us hard in the fourth quarter but we kept our poise," said Erickson. "We really wanted this one."

Timmerman, a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line, stuffed the stat sheet with 28 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots for the Tigers.

CJ Lerum added 13 for Central.

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