Boys Basketball: Crystal Lake Central evens score with Hampshire

Updated: February 3, 2012 9:36PM

Hampshire and Crystal Lake Central are already forming a competitive rivalry just one year in to their Fox Valley Fox relationship.

When the Tigers and Whip-Purs met in January it was Hampshire that hung on to a five-point victory. Friday the Tigers evened up the season series with a 67-61 victory.

The first half of Friday’s game was an extremely even contest. Crystal Lake Central (16-5, 5-3) held a two-point lead at the break after shooting 55 percent from the field and 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Hampshire only shot 44 percent from the field, but dominated inside with a 19-7 edge on the glass.

The Whip-Purs (12-9, 5-3) made a nice adjustment in the second half, and started out strong to take a five-point lead. Central followed this with a run of its own thanks in part to the hot shooting of Tigers senior Chase Cane. Cane shot 11-for-13 from the field and led all scorers with 28 points.

“I got a lot of open looks tonight, and was able to hit some shots,” said Cane. “My teammates set some great screens and passed the ball well. They deserve a lot of the credit as well.”

Hampshire got within four points with a minute left, but that would be as close as it got for the Whip-Purs.

“We had a couple mental lapses on defense and that is what hurt us most tonight,” said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. “I felt like we played well, but we got too far behind. Give Central a ton of credit. We defended shots and they (Crystal Lake Central) still made them. We had some chances and good looks, but the shots wouldn’t fall.”

Hampshire was led by Tyler Watzlawick, who scored 21 points and added 12 rebounds. The Whip-Purs senior is now just three points shy of 1,000 points for his career. Watzlawick will have a chance to reach that milestone on Tuesday at Marengo.

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