CLC lone area team in South Shootout semis

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake Central used a high-percentage offense to defeat Elgin, 51-45, and advance to the semifinals of the 20th annual Crystal Lake South Gary Collins Shootout on Saturday.

The Tigers will face Chicago North Lawndale at 12:30 p.m. today. Barrington will play Hyde Park in the other semifinal.

Central controlled the boards with a size advantage against the Maroons and scored a vast majority of its field goals on layups.

The Tigers struggled with their outside shot but were not forced to take many outside the lane, either.

“We felt like that’s where we could get the ball in the bucket,” Tigers coach Rich Czeslawski said. “Some games they’re not going to drop.”

Jake Chrystal scored 16 points, all from close range, to lead Central. Chrystal opened the second half with two three-point plays, after getting fouled on layups, to erase a halftime deficit and tie the score, 30-30.

Chrystal said that the Tigers’ ability to make the extra pass, particularly after defensive stops, was a big part of being able to get so many layups.

“Transition buckets were huge,” Chrystal said. “I knew that if we kept doing what we were doing, we’d be OK.”

Central is the only area team in the semifinals. Jacobs and Crystal Lake South lost quarterfinal games. South lost to Barrington, 57-48, and Chicago Hyde Park defeated the Golden Eagles, 42-36.

Jacobs was down big in the first half but came back in the second and trailed by only three points with two minutes to play.

“I thought we made an adjustment to their quickness and handled it better in the second half,” Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said. “We didn’t just throw our hands up. We came back and played very well.”

Rough draw: McHenry knew that playing Hyde Park in the first round Friday would not be easy, but the Warriors nearly pulled off the upset. The Warriors were up by 10 in the second half but could not hold on, losing, 51-44.

Since that loss, McHenry has been cruising and advanced to the semifinals of the consolation bracket with a 65-39 win against Batavia.

Warriors coach Tim Paddock said the Hyde Park game is just the sort of competition he wants for his team in the summer.

“You want to play those kind of games,” Paddock said. “They walked away with a lot of confidence.”