PR wins when it counts

Prairie Ridge's Kyle Peterson drives to the basket during Tuesday's regional semifinal game against Crystal Lake Central at Woodstock North. Prairie Ridge won, 45-39. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com)

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WOODSTOCK – In the previous two games between Prairie Ridge’s and Crystal Lake Central’s boys basketball teams this season, Central emerged with the victory.

On Tuesday, the Wolves got the last laugh.

Third-seeded Prairie Ridge beat No. 2 Central, 45-39, in an IHSA Class 3A Woodstock North Regional semifinal in a third close contest between the crosstown rivals.

The Wolves will face top-seeded Marian Central, which beat Woodstock North in Tuesday’s other semifinal, at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the regional title.

Central beat the Wolves by 10 in the teams’ first meeting and by one in overtime during the second meeting on Feb. 9.

But Prairie Ridge (12-15) is playing its best basketball right now, senior guard Chad Ljunggren said, and it showed Tuesday night.

“This win means a lot to us. We were [in a regional final] last year, but couldn’t finish with a win,” said Ljunggren, who led the Wolves with 18 points.

“We’re hoping to finish it off this year. We’re playing our best basketball at the right time.”

Prairie Ridge’s start, although not explosive, was quick enough. The Wolves outscored the Tigers (9-18), 9-2, in the first quarter and the seven-point advantage proved to be too big a hurdle for Central to overcome. The Tigers never led at any point during the game.

The Wolves led by two, 16-14, at halftime, after Central outscored them 12-7 in the second quarter, thanks in part to back-to-back three-pointers from Central sophomore guard Chase Cane (15 points).

Cane’s hot hand helped the Tigers in the fourth quarter as well. He hit another three at the 5-minute mark to cut the Wolves’ advantage to five, 34-29, and his final three of the night at with 2:22 left cut the Tigers’ deficit to four, 38-34.

Prairie Ridge led, 42-39, late in the game when Ljunggren made the game-saving play.

After missing the front end of a one-and-one free throw with 34 seconds left in the game, Prairie Ridge forced a Central turnover and Ljunggren took it in for a layup and five-point advantage, 44-39, with 15 seconds left to play.

“I wanted the ball in my hands,” Ljunggren said. “There was a mistake on [Central’s] part and we were putting good pressure on them, so I had a good opportunity.”

“The best thing he did was getting us where we needed to be for what we had to do next,” Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card said.

Central coach Rich Czeslawski said his team’s young players now have experienced the pressure of the postseason and would grow from it.

“It was ... nip-tuck all the way and they had a couple more bounces go their way than we did,” Czeslawski said. “ ... Tonight was a great learning experience for the young kids. They got to see how a regional is played and what it takes to win in the postseason. It will help them a lot next year.”