Boys basketball notes: Smiles, finally, for Crystal Lake Central heading into 2025

Avery Lee played efficiently at both ends of the court, Jackson Hopkins threw down a two-handed dunk, Johnny Geisser beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer, and Crystal Lake Central’s basketball team ended the game with another reason to smile.

For the first time this season, the Tigers had back-to-back wins.

“Just finding some consistency, finding a rotation,” Central coach Dan Oziminski said Saturday after his Tigers finished Marengo’s E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic with a 55-36 win over Woodstock North. “It’s been a pleasure here the last couple of days.”

Lee made sure Central went into the new year feeling good. The 6-foot-2 junior had 15 points, eight rebounds (five on the offensive glass) and four steals against Woodstock North as the Tigers improved to 4-9. They dropped their first two games at Marengo, giving them nine losses in their past 10 games.

“There’s a lot more energy during the game and especially in the locker room, and everyone’s excited to go on a run,” Lee said. “We’re climbing the ladder.”

Lee is listed as a guard on Central’s roster, but he enjoys playing in the low post.

“Usually I’m a shot blocker, actually,” Lee said. “I don’t know what my vertical [jump] is, but I can get my head almost at the rim.”

“He’s an undersized rim protector for us,” Oziminski said. “He’s efficient and powerful, and moving. He’s fluid on defense, which [creates] a lot of deflections.”

Lee, who played on varsity as a sophomore last season, scored 13 points in a 74-38 win over Marengo on Dec. 27. He had his first varsity dunk this season.

“He’s been finding his consistent traits that he does well for our team,” Oziminski said. “His lower body is so strong, his upper body is strong, and he’s got that balance. We just want to make sure he’s being efficient with his work.”

Central returns to action Saturday, when it hosts Richmond-Burton in a nonconference game at 12:30 p.m.

Dundee-Crown, Huntley deliver at Dayton: Dundee-Crown and Huntley went 3-1 at DeKalb’s 97th annual Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic.

Each team started the tournament with a loss.

D-C and Huntley were going to play each other in the championship game of the consolation bracket, but to avoid a matchup of the Fox Valley Conference opponents, tournament officials adjusted the schedule. D-C played Springfield Southeast, and Huntley faced Thornridge.

D-C beat Southeast 46-34, as Jared Russell scored 20 points. Christian Wilson had 19 points in Huntley’s 51-38 win over Thornridge.

Russell averaged 15.8 points (11 3-pointers) and 5.3 rebounds a game in the tournament.

D-C (6-6) heads into Friday’s 1 p.m. nonconference home game against Round Lake having won five of its past six.

Wilson was named to the all-tournament team for the second year in a row after averaging 19.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Huntley (6-7) hosts Hononegah at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Brodzik, Vess produce for Woodstock North: Woodstock North is averaging only 36.4 points a game but got encouraging production from Colin Brodzik and Zaiden Vess in the Thunder’s 55-36 loss to Crystal Lake Central on Saturday at Marengo.

Brodzik, a senior forward, scored 14 points, getting to the free-throw line five times. He converted 4 of 8 foul shots.

“He’s been good,” said North coach Josh Jandron, whose 1-8 team went 0-4 at Marengo. “He’s been a leader this year. He doesn’t always say too much, but he’ll show with his effort. Today was a really good encapsulation of who he is as a player. He was getting beat up out there, too, and I loved that he just took it very well.”

Vess, a junior guard and first-year varsity player, sank three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.

“He’s been a really good addition,” Jandron said. “We got to get him more shots. He’s more of a vocal leader. He comes in and knows what he’s doing, and he knows what he does well. He shoots the ball really well.”

North played its final three games at Marengo without point guard Ethan Richardson, who went on vacation with his family.

“He’s been a good ball handler,” Jandron said. “We got to get him to score the ball a little bit more, but that will come with age and experience, when he gets more comfortable.”

North doesn’t play again until it visits Richmond-Burton in Kishwaukee River Conference action Tuesday.