Carson Trivellini, A.J. Demirov keep Crystal Lake South tied atop FVC standings

ALGONQUIN – Jacobs put a huge scare into Crystal Lake South’s potential Fox Valley Conference title hopes during their matchup Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles led for much of the second quarter and the entire third quarter, with their lead ballooning to as many as nine points.

“We were starting to get a little bit nervous there for a while,” Gators coach Matt LePage said. “Fortunately, we had a couple guys who went off at just the right time and dragged us back into the game.”

“Dragged” may be the wrong word. “Catapulted” would be more accurate.

That’s because sophomore Carson Trivellini scored a career-high 30 points, including 15 in the third for South. Senior teammate AJ Demirov, who recently broke the school record for career points (1,864), was held to just four points through three quarters, facing constant double-teams.

But he proceeded to go off too, tallying 14 fourth-quarter points and 18 in total as South (26-4, 15-2 FVC) stormed back for a 77-65 road win it had to have.

The Gators scored 49 second-half points, shooting 8 for 14 from the field in the third, then 10 for 14 during the final eight minutes for a combined 18 for 28 (64.2%) mark. This after shooting just 37.9% (11 for 29) in the first half.

They also only turned the ball over four times in 32 minutes.

“Honestly, I couldn’t have had this kind of night without my teammates,” said Trivellini, who sank 12 of his 20 shots. “Those guys were doing a great job moving the basketball, setting screens and giving me room to shoot.”

Trivellini was 6 for 13 from 3-point range. Demirov, meanwhile, only missed one of his seven shots in the fourth, relentlessly attacking the basket and knifing through Jacobs defenders down the stretch.

“We all knew going into that fourth quarter what was at stake,” Demirov said. “There was no way I wanted to end my senior season with a letdown, for myself or the rest of the guys in our locker room.

“Now we control our own destiny. We can’t let our guard down in our final game.”

Had the Gators lost, it would’ve left McHenry in control of its own destiny in the FVC title race, as both teams entered play Tuesday tied for first. But both teams won Tuesday, as McHenry clipped Cary-Grove 49-44 to stay even with the Gators at 15-2 in the FVC.

Both have one conference game remaining. South faces Hampshire on the road Friday, while McHenry travels to Huntley the same night. If both teams win or both lose, they will be co-FVV champs. If one wins and the other loses, one team will win the FVC outright.

The Gators got big help from Tony Santarelli (nine points, six rebounds, three assists). And others.

“Nick (Stowasser), Vinny (Santarelli) and John (Morgan) did a tremendous job for us off the bench tonight,” LePage said. “They’re all underclassmen too, so to get that kind of effort and a boost from them in the biggest game of our season was huge.”

The trio combined for 17 points and five offensive rebounds.

Jacobs (15-15, 6-11) fell to .500, but coach Jimmy Roberts was pleased with what he saw for the most part.

“Our guys really stepped up and gave it their best against a really good team,” Roberts said. “Obviously, it’s disappointing to let that one slip away, but effort-wise, I couldn’t have asked for much more.”

Jacobs only committed six turnovers, and were led by Ben Jurzak (21 points), Nolan Roper (18 points) and Carson Goehring (11 points).

Emaan Thomas dished out four assists, as did Jurzak. But after shooting 19 for 37 (51.3%) in the first three quarters, Jacobs was cold (4 for 15) in the final eight minutes, missing nine 3s.

“We had a little resurgence of late, then hit a bump in the road,” Roberts said. “Hopefully this sort of effort is something we can take into our final game, then the playoffs. Our seniors really stepped up in a big way tonight despite the loss, as seniors often do late in the season.”