Unlikely hero puts South in title game

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake South and McHenry delivered one of the more dramatic and unconventional finishes of the boys basketball season.

The final points came with 2 minutes remaining. South guard Ethan Breitenstein, normally reliable at the free-throw line, missed two front-end bonus shots in the final 23 seconds but made up for his first miss with a steal on the other end.

And Gators coach Dan DeBruycker called his most beneficial timeout of the season with 35 seconds to go.

Second-seeded McHenry managed one last-second shot, but guard Josh McNaughton’s three-point attempt was long, preserving South’s 45-44 victory in their IHSA Class 4A Crystal Lake South Regional game Tuesday at Gator Alley.

Third-seeded South (15-11) faces top-seeded Jefferson (21-7) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the regional championship game.

After the game, it was not
Breitenstein or Kevin Rogers or another starter the student section lifted in triumph. It was reserve forward Gavin Rubin, who tipped in a miss with 2:00 remaining for the winning basket.

“I wasn’t trying to do anything extraordinary,” said Rubin, who scored eight points. “I was just kind of running the offense. I saw the shot and just got the rebound and put it back in. [After the game] was kind of cool to experience that. That’s never happened before.”

South and McHenry had split their regular-season games, with each winning at home, and tied for second in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division behind Cary-Grove. South’s eight-point lead in the second quarter was the largest of the game for either team.

The Gators held McHenry (16-9) scoreless for the final 5:09 of the game but still needed a crucial three-pointer from Breitenstein and Rubin’s tip-in.

“Ethan carried us, his shooting really helped,” DeBruycker said. “That was Gavin’s best game of the year. He didn’t play for us last year, but we knew when he came back, from what he did as a freshman, he could help us out.”

Breitenstein scored a game-high 17 points and hit four threes, but his coach bailed him out in the final minute with a key timeout. McHenry’s Ryan Terrill missed a three-point attempt, and South’s Robbie Lemke rebounded. The Gators called timeout and tried to hold the ball from the 1:19 mark.

Breitenstein was being double-teamed on the left side when DeBruycker, sensing he was in trouble, called timeout with 35 seconds to go. Breitenstein lost the ball out of bounds, but one of the officials granted DeBruycker the timeout before the turnover.

“They were waiting for us to throw it there so they could trap,” DeBruycker said. “I saw [Breitenstein] going for the baseline, and I knew nothing good was going to come of it.”

Brian Madson led McHenry with 13 points and six rebounds, Jimmy Preston added 10, and Josh McNaughton had nine with three threes.

“We just had a lot of empty possessions down the stretch,” McHenry coach Tim Paddock said. “And the free throws (3 of 10 shooting) really jumped up and got us. Overall, these seniors have really changed McHenry basketball. This is the first time since 1987 that we’ve had back-to-back winning seasons. They’ve done so much.”