Boys Basketball: Hampshire holds off hot-shooting Woodstock North

Updated: January 27, 2012 11:50PM

Conference wins rarely come easy, and Friday night’s game against visiting Woodstock North was no exception for Hampshire. Leading throughout, the Whip-Purs withstood a barrage of three-pointers from the Thunder, and hit clutch free throws down the stretch to hang on for a 55-51 win in Fox Valley Fox play.

The Whips (12-8, 5-2) twice held a nine-point third-quarter lead, but hot shooting from beyond the arc kept North within single digits.

Down 50-46, Ryan Langreck gave the Thunder (6-14, 1-5) its third three-pointer of the quarter to cut the deficit to 50-49 with 1:33 left in the game. Hampshire patiently went through its looks on offense, and senior Tyler Watzlawick scored in the paint with 0:52 left to push Hampshire’s lead to 52-49.

North’s Konner Boron hit a jumper with 0:20 left to again cut the deficit to one, but Ryan Cork nailed two free throws for the Whips with 13.4 seconds left to push the lead to 54-51. The Thunder’s Steven Whiting, who had already hit two threes in the quarter, had a good look at a game-tying three with 2 seconds left, but the shot rimmed off. Tyler Crater secured the rebound and hit one of two free throws to seal the win for Hampshire, which has won 10 of its last 11 games.

“They hit a bunch of threes. Couple off the glass, couple off the heel,” said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett, who was presented with a plaque before the game in honor of his 400th career win, which came after Hampshire beat Woodstock on Tuesday. “They got every loose ball. I thought they played real well. When we were up nine we were looking for that one possession where we could get a double-digit lead and pull away, but that never happened.”

After sitting most of the first half because of two early fouls, 6-foot-6 junior Shane Hernandez scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, and also went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the fourth.

He added six blocks, three of which came during one possession, and four rebounds for the Whips. Watzlawick finished with 13 points, and Brock Ralphs nailed three three-pointers for nine points.

“I was really frustrated with myself in the first half,” Hernandez said. “I got my mind back together and came back strong to help the team out.”

Added North coach Steve Ryan: “Their big kids hurt us in the end. We couldn’t get the stops inside, so give them credit. They executed and got the ball inside where they could hurt us.”

With the Whips up 12-6 in the first quarter, the Thunder went on an 8-0 run for a 14-12 lead early in the second. Hampshire responded and later took a 23-17 lead, but North ended the half on a 5-0 run as the Whips went into the break up 23-22.

Boron scored a game-high 16 points for the Thunder, which shot 40 percent (17-for-47) from the field and hit buzzer-beater shots at the end of each of the first three quarters.

The Whips finished 49 percent (18-for-37) from the field.

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