IHSA Class 3A Hoffman Estates Supersectional: DePaul Prep slows down AJ Demirov, Crystal Lake South offense

HOFFMAN ESTATES – DePaul Prep knew to beat Crystal Lake South, it would have to slow down lightning-fast guard AJ Demirov.

Demirov, a 5-foot-11 junior, entered Monday’s Class 3A Hoffman Estates Supersectional at NOW Arena averaging more than 20 points per game, including a near triple-double with 25 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in South’s sectional championship win over Kaneland last week.

Demirov looked unguardable at times this season, blowing by defenders on his way to the hoop, so the Rams (33-2) focused on how to disrupt South’s offense and, specifically, keep the Gators star from finding his flow.

“I thought what we did really well was contain No. 4 [Demirov],” DePaul senior guard PJ Chambers said. “That was the game plan. We thought that No. 4 was the key. If we take him out of the equation, it was very possible for us to win.”

The Rams, with 15 of their 18 players listed at 6 feet or taller, had a great game plan to slow down South.

It all resulted in a 51-31 victory for DePaul and a trip to the state semifinals Friday at State Farm Center in Champaign.

DePaul gave Demirov different looks with three players – 6-7 junior forward Jaylan McElroy, 6-3 senior Makai Kvamme and 6-2 junior Rob Walls – each taking turns.

The Rams were able to do something not many teams have done against Demirov this season, holding him to 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Senior forward Colton Hess was second on the Gators with seven points.

“It’s hard to wear AJ down, but they did a great job,” South coach Matt LePage said. “They were prepared. They just have a bunch of guys that you can tell are aggressive kids and love defense, and they’re really good at it. ... The way they switch up on you, they don’t kind of soft switch, they come at you and attack, and I think it kind of wears everyone down.”

Demirov was impressed by the speed of DePaul.

“They were just switching the bigs up on me,” Demirov said. “They can move laterally really well, and as coach said, they’re athletic, so it was a good plan.”

DePaul coach Tom Kleinschmidt liked what he saw on film from Demirov, who was averaging 23.8 points a game over his previous five games entering Monday.

“He’s a good player. We wanted to try to make sure he saw a player and a half,” Kleinschmidt said. “We tried to keep him away from the basket as much as we could. We wanted to meet him at the elbows and the nail at the free throw line so he couldn’t get to the paint and had to take tougher shots.”

Kleinschmidt said a point of emphasis was making sure Demirov couldn’t easily kick it out to teammates for an easy 3. Demirov had the Gators’ only 3-pointer of the game on his first shot.

“They’re a great shooting team,” Kleinschmidt said. “We know they’ve got shooters all over. If he did drive, we wanted to meet him with a big and not help off the corner where they’ve got an easy 3.”

LePage felt DePaul’s defense was as good as advertised. South was held to a season low in points Monday.

“We were trying to move and cut without the ball and create space to drive and kick, and they’re just incredibly quick at closing gaps,” LePage said. “When you get the pass out to somebody, they’re over it immediately.”

Despite the season-ending loss, Demirov said he will take away a lot of great memories from the season. South finished a program-best 31-4, breaking the previous record of 26 wins set in 1983 and 1988, and were only the eighth area team to reach 30 wins.

The Gators won back-to-back regional titles and earned their second sectional championship in team history. South dominated the Fox Valley Conference, going 18-0 and joining South’s teams from 1982, 1988 and 1993 as the school’s only undefeated conference champions.

Demirov will enter next year with 1,341 career points. South’s all-time leading scorer is Phil Wallace (2004) with 1,846.

“I’m going to remember these guys forever,” Demirov said. “We were all talking about it in the locker room. At our 10-year reunion, we’re just going to come back and be like, ‘[Dang], this was a good group of guys.’ I’m grateful that these guys took me under their wing.”