Waubonsie Valley answers Crystal Lake South’s challenge, repeats as Hinkle Classic champs

ALGONQUIN – An inspiring third-quarter sequence for Crystal Lake South was infuriating to Waubonsie Valley.

Sophomore Carson Trivellini scored on his third consecutive try off an offensive rebound to give the Gators a one-point lead in Friday night’s championship game of Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic in Algonquin. Waubonsie coach Andrew Schweitzer furiously called a timeout that had little to do with strategy.

The timeout-ignited Warriors unleashed a furious onslaught to an 18-point lead with six minutes to play and a repeat Hinkle title with a 69-47 victory.

“It was huge and we knew what we were playing for,” said Illinois State-bound guard Tyreek Coleman after he had 26 points, four rebounds and four assists en route to tourney MVP honors. “We were ultimately playing to keep our undefeated season going.”

Joining the Jacobs teams of 2006-08 and 2016-17 as repeat tourney champs was a bit tenuous for the top-seeded Warriors (12-0) when Schweitzer called timeout with 5:16 left in the third. Third-seeded South (11-3) led 36-35 behind the magnificent shooting of senior A.J. Demirov (22 points, 5 of 7 on 3-pointers).

“We weren’t playing as aggressive as we should be,” said Waubonsie all-tourney pick Moses Wilson, who had 18 points and 9 rebounds.

“We knew we weren’t playing as hard as we could and they made us pay,” Coleman said. “We got to the huddle and coach chewed us out. We knew we had to lock in.”

Coleman and Wilson found reserve Donovan Neal (nine points) for consecutive 3s. A layup by freshman Ryan Morgan (four assists) off a feed by Cooper Buelna got South within 41-40.

Then Coleman scored 11 and Wilson hit consecutive 3s in a 17-0 blitz for a 58-40 lead with 6:08 to play. South lost all-tourney pick Trivellini during the run with a gash over his eye that required a trip to the hospital for stitches and Waubonsie switched to a man-to-man with Coleman getting double-team help to slow Demirov after a 17-point first half.

“It was really a bad time for us to go ice cold and for them to go red-hot,” said South coach Matt LePage after a 7-for-25 second half from the floor. “We just missed some rhythm shots we were making and that really ignited their run. We tried to take away their two guys and I thought for the most part we were OK and then they got loose.”

An entertaining first half saw Demirov hit five 3s and Neal beat the first-quarter buzzer by hitting a half-court heave. Wilson had a seven-point run in less than 10 seconds with a dunk of Coleman’s lob and consecutive inbound pass steal-layups, the latter for a three-point play.

But Demirov didn’t score again after his driving baseline jumper tied it at 38-38 with 4:23 left in the third.

“That’s when the game got away from us,” Demirov said. “But it was good to see we can play with a team like that and see we can compete with them.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241227/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-waubonsie-valley-responds-to-cl-souths-challenge-repeats-hinkle-championship/