Tigers can’t overcome North’s torrid 2nd half

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GRAYSLAKE – Crystal Lake Central faced another opportunity to conquer its main nemesis.

But that nemesis – Grays-lake North and their hot second-half shooting – got the better of the Tigers again.

North scorched the nets on the north end of its gymnasium in the second half for eight three-pointers, including four from guard Danny Mateland, to defeat Central, 61-58, in their Fox Valley Conference Fox Division boys basketball game Tuesday night.

“In the first half we came out with a lot of energy,” Tigers forward Corban Murphy said. “They came out [in the second half] and hit shots and we backed down a little bit. We started pressing and didn’t make shots.”

Central (13-5 overall, 2-3 FVC Fox) made 7 of 11 three-point attempts on that same basket in the first half and built a lead of as many as 13 points. But the Tigers hit only 9 of 35 shots in the second half.

“We have a little bit of adversity and we unravel,” Central coach Rich Czeslawski said. “That gives them confidence and that’s why they shot so well in the second half. They made a run and it’s like a broken record for us – instead of coming together, we splintered.”

North (11-6, 4-1) battled back to take the lead with 3:26 remaining on Zach Krupp’s third three of the game.

Murphy hit a 14-footer for a 58-57 lead with 2:23 to go, but Krupp buried another three from the left corner for a 60-58 lead with 1:20 remaining.

Krupp hit a free throw with 23 seconds remaining and Central did not get a shot off until the final seconds, when Nick Decoster’s three from the right corner missed.

Decoster and Jake Vanscoyoc each hit three threes in the first half as the Tigers took a 36-25 halftime lead. North switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone in the second half and Central had open looks on threes.

“We were getting open shots,” Decoster said. “We just failed to concentrate on every shot. They made that 10-2 run [to start the second half] and that got us out of the game. We were anxious and nervous. We can’t pull through at the end. It’s like we lack the ability to concentrate for four quarters of basketball.”

Murphy led Central with 14 points, while Decoster and Chase Cane added 11 each. The Tigers hit 11 threes, but North finished with 12.

“There must have been something about that [north] basket,” Knights coach Todd Grunloh said. “They were 7 for 11 in the first half and I didn’t think we were going to miss [on a three] in the second. Our man defense wasn’t working, so we went zone and figured if they kept shooting like that, we’d just tip our hat to them.”

Mateling hit five threes and finished with a game-high 23 points. Krupp scored 15 points with four threes. Mark Hall added 12.

“They kept shooting well and we tried to outshoot them,” Czeslawski said. “We could have had 2-footers a lot of times instead of 20-footers. It was just bad offense.”