The Kaneland boys basketball team survived a challenge from Sycamore in the toughest of the teams’ three contests of the season, winning in overtime 49-45 to advance to the Class 3A Sycamore regional final.Sophomore guard Troyer Carlson scored six points in the overtime period, including the go-ahead 3-pointer that forced the final lead change of the contest. Carlson finished with 12 points, matching sophomore forward Parker Violett in the team-high for scoring.

Hampshire hit their 3-pointers, outrebounded Cary-Grove by a large margin and were almost perfect at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to beat the Trojans, 44-36, in their Fox Valley Conference boys basketball game Tuesday at Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.

Prairie Ridge, which had shot well in the first half and made five 3-pointers, cooled off in the third quarter, allowing Cary-Grove to creep closer.The Wolves stuck with their tough man-to-man defense and solved their shooting woes in the best way possible, with a couple more 3s.

Dundee-Crown finished the game with a 10-0 run, defeating Cary-Grove 44-40 in a Fox Valley Conference boys basketball game Wednesday night.

The Royals were ranked ninth in the most recent Associated Press Class 4A poll and eighth by one of the Chicago daily newspapers. Deryn Carter’s group was 16-1 overall and 7-0 in Upstate Eight play after wins against Elgin and East Aurora.Of note in those two conference games, Larkin broke the all-time record for largest margin of victory in the Larkin-Elgin crosstown series. Carter also believes the Royals are off to the best start in school history, as well as the owners of the most consecutive wins in a single season in school history.

Matt LePage had a challenge for his players to start the second half of Crystal Lake South’s game against Cary-Grove on Wednesday night. Stop thinking too much. The Gators coach thought his players focused too much on what the Trojans ran defensively in the first half, which is why they couldn’t move and score the ball as smoothly as he wanted.

Cary-Grove could not help but wonder what would have happened if the hole it faced against Waubonsie Valley had not been so deep.The Trojans rallied back from a 14-point halftime deficit to cut Waubonsie Valley’s lead to two with 2:30 remaining.The Warriors came up with efficient possessions when they needed them most to put C-G away, 46-38, in their Consolation A bracket game Monday at Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic.

Cary-Grove figured if it was Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic, it belonged in the championship bracket, regardless of who was wearing the navy and white uniforms. C-G was tantalizingly close to advancing to the championship before falling short against Loyola, 57-53, in a triple-overtime Pool II game Thursday that sends the Ramblers into the championship bracket against Larkin at 6 p.m. Monday.

Scouting Fox area boys basketball holiday tournaments

Scouting Jim Hinkle Holiday Classic

Things have been trending upward and then some for the Huntley boys basketball team this season. Coach Will Benson’s squad was 8-1 overall to start the week and 4-0 in Fox Valley Conference play. That lone loss was a 1-point setback to Batavia on a last-second drained 3-pointer.

Any good feelings Cary-Grove had after hanging tough with Huntley for one half vanished quickly after halftime. The Raiders scored the first 13 points of the second half on their way to a 56-35 Fox Valley Conference boys basketball victory Wednesday night at C-G’s Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.

Tuesday night, in an Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic first-rounder at Palatine, Stevenson senior guards Evan Porto and Jaden Evans starred in a boys basketball game, combining for 44 points in Stevenson’s 64-49 victory.

Here’s a look at the boys basketball season in the Fox Valley