Tigers fade, fall

Crystal Lake Central‚'s Kyle Fleck looks to pass the ball as Grayslake Central's Casey Boyle defends in the second quarter Wednesday during the FVC Fox Division game at Grayslake Central. (Candace H. Johnson – for the Northwest Herald)

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GRAYSLAKE – Crystal Lake Central needed a strong road performance to put itself in position to repeat as Fox Valley Conference Fox Division champion.

More importantly, the Tigers simply wanted to deliver in tight situations against a formidable foe.

They got neither.

Grayslake Central grabbed control late in the third quarter and put Crystal Lake Central away, 58-47, Wednesday in their FVC Fox boys basketball game.

After a decent enough first half that ended with them ahead, 31-29, the Tigers (13-4 overall, 2-2 FVC Fox) managed only 16 second-half points.

“We didn’t really execute our plays well or do what the coaches told us to do,” said forward Corban Murphy, who led the Tigers with 12 points. “This is a big game. Now, we just have to get back to practice and move on. We just have to play harder next game.”

The Tigers hit five three-pointers in the first half – including Jake Vanscoyoc’s 70-foot, one-handed bank shot at the end of the first quarter – and hit 12 of 23 field-goal attempts. The Tigers were 5 of 20 in the second half as the game slipped away.

“The games we’ve lost have been largely because of loose balls and offensive rebounds,” Tigers coach Rich Czeslawski said. “We have a little lack of heart when we have to compete and the game gets tight.”

Czeslawski also thought his team played too much as individuals in tighter spots. Grays-lake Central (12-5, 4-0) certainly has the upper hand now in the
division, with three wins against the other two teams considered contenders – Crystal Lake Central and Hampshire.

“We can’t worry about [the division title] now,” Czeslawski said. “[Grayslake Central] controls their destiny and we don’t, but we’re a long way away from a conference championship team. We just have to win our next game.”

The Rams ended the third quarter on an 8-1 run and did not let the Tigers closer than four points the rest of the way.

“One of my assistant coaches said at halftime it felt like a playoff game,” Rams coach Brian Moe said. “We thought whatever team relaxed a little bit would win. The players got together and talked and I have no idea what they said, but I like it. We have a one-game cushion on the top teams now, but we can’t trip up. Now every other team will give you a battle every night.”

Although the Rams committed six of their 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter, they also hit 4 of 5 field goals and 7 of 9 free throws. Grayslake Central’s 6-foot-9 center Casey Boyle scored a game-high 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Forward Danny Reed added 12 points.

Crystal Lake Central won its first 11 games of the season and now has four losses in it’s past six.

“Everyone can score, but sometimes we have to get things flowing more through the offense,” Tigers guard Nick Marchetti said. “We have players forcing shots sometimes. We get in the 1 on 1 mode and we have to work more on our team offense.”