McHenry holds off late Burlington Central rally to stay unbeaten

BURLINGTON – The calendar reads December, but there was a definite March feel to Friday night’s Fox Valley Conference basketball game between McHenry and Burlington Central.

McHenry (7-0, 4-0) held off a furious late rally from the Rockets (5-3, 2-2) to escape with a 68-67 victory before a spirited crowd in Burlington.

Trailing 68-62 with 44 seconds remaining, the Rockets answered with a 5-0 run, capped by sophomore Patrick Magan’s 3-pointer from the corner off a Caden West steal to cut the deficit to 68-67 with 22 seconds remaining.

Following a pair of missed free throws by the Warriors with 20 seconds left, Rockets coach Brett Porto called a timeout with 7.9 seconds remaining.

Cash Cumpata’s desperation baseline shot fell into the hands of sophomore teammate Ryan Carpenter, whose putback from close range rimmed out at the buzzer, setting off the Warriors’ midcourt celebration.

“I was telling the officials that if it (shot) goes in, I wanted a timeout to figure out what was next,” said McHenry coach Corky Card, whose team overcame 33 turnovers by shooting 53% from the field (21 for 40), including 50% (8 for 16) from 3-point range.

“It was definitely scary,” said senior guard Dylan Hurckes, who had a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds. “We should have boxed out better but luckily, he missed the shot.”

McHenry, which also received a 21-point, five-rebound effort from 6-foot-7 junior Adam Anwar, led by as many as eight points in the first half only to trail 32-31 at halftime thanks in part to committing 12 second-quarter turnovers.

“We went up seven or eight in the first half and then four of the next five possessions, we turned the ball over,” Card said. “Our kids did a nice job of playing through everything that was going on.”

The Rockets stretched their lead to 47-40 with 2:40 left in the third quarter before momentum started to swing following Marko Stojich’s 3-point play on the Warriors’ next possession.

Officials whistled Rockets senior Patrick Shell (13 points, five rebounds) for a technical foul on the play that ended his night with his fourth and fifth fouls. Anwar sank all four free throws to tie the game at 47-all, and 3-pointers from Hurckes and Conner McLean stretched the Warriors’ lead to 55-47.

Led by LJ Kerr (10 points, seven assists) and Caden West (nine points, three steals), the Rockets once again fought back, tying the game at 59-all on Magan’s 3-pointer before grabbing a 62-59 lead on Jake Johnson’s 3-pointer with 3:14 remaining.

Hurckes answered with a 3-point play to tie the game at 62-62 before a baseline jumper by Caleb Jett (seven points, four rebounds, three blocks) gave McHenry the lead for good at 64-62 with 1:58 left.

“It’s a big win, but they’re all big,” said Card, whose team edged defending FVC champion Crystal Lake South 51-49 Wednesday night. “We’ve had three games where it came down to a last shot and we came out on top of those, so that’s always good for growth.”

Magan led the Rockets with 16 points, while Johnson added 13 points before fouling out with 1:43 remaining.

“I think we showed a lot of grit and toughness,” said Rockets coach Brett Porto, whose team was whistled for three technical fouls. “The difference was the number of technical fouls. Too many free throws off that, so when you lose by one point, that’s an easy point to start from.

“I like how we’ve been playing the last couple weeks, and hopefully, we can continue to play the same way.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241213/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-burlington-central-late-rally-falls-1-point-short-vs-mchenry/