Boys basketball: Prairie Ridge uses big first quarter to top Woodstock North

CRYSTAL LAKE — Prairie Ridge didn’t need much motivation for its playoff opener against Woodstock North on Wednesday night.

With the home crowd behind them and not wanting their season to end, the Wolves started their boys basketball postseason with a commanding 60-41 win in the Class 3A Prairie Ridge Regional semifinals.

“When we come out with energy, we’re hard to beat,” Prairie Ridge’s James Muse said.

Prairie Ridge got off to a 13-2 start and outscored Woodstock North, 20-4, in the first quarter, which the Thunder struggled to claw back from for the rest of the game.

The Wolves moved the ball around well and found open shots throughout the game, thanks to the intensity they kept.

“We just had a lot of energy coming in,” Muse said “We didn’t want to go home today and we wanted to keep playing.”

Woodstock North battled in the second quarter to try to get within striking distance, but Prairie Ridge ended the first half on a 9-3 run. The Wolves led 47-30 after three quarters and held off any run the Thunder tried to make.

Muse led the way for the Wolves with 16 points, while Sam Loeding added 13 and Mason Loucks had 10.

Wolves coach Ryan Smith wasn’t only impressed with how his team started with strong intensity but how it lasted the entire game during key defensive stretches.

“The energy was great,” Smith said. “A couple of times it was about slowing them down when they got some energy.”

Rex White led the way for Woodstock North with eight points while Gabe Filetti added seven. The Thunder never held a lead in the game after a slow start in the first quarter, which Thunder coach Dale Jandron knew would be a tall test against a talented Wolves team.

“We didn’t get out to a good start and they did,” Jandron said. “We missed a lot of bunnies early. We played hard and got back into it, but we never got over the hump.”

Prairie Ridge will need that intensity on Friday in the team’s regional final against Wauconda.

“They’re one of the best teams I’ve seen get out on transition,” Smith said of Wauconda. “They can flat out score the basketball. But we’ve seen teams that can play fast. We just need to do a good job of slowing them down, make it a half-court game on our home floor. It’ll be a good challenge.”

Wauconda 65, Crystal Lake Central 39

Wauconda came out strong to start the postseason as a No. 1 seed in the Class 3A Crystal Lake South Sectional.

The Bulldogs outscored Crystal Lake Central, 22-8, in the first quarter in their Class 3A Prairie Ridge Regional semifinal Wednesday night and never looked back.

“It felt good to get up and down a little bit,” Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwagher said. “Our pressure got to them a little bit there, and we were able to get a couple buckets there in transition, which helps.”

The Bulldogs kept rolling after a strong first quarter, leading 39-21 at the half and 60-31 after three quarters. Wauconda showed off its athleticism by shooting the ball well and moving well in transition. The defense forced turnovers, which led to easy transition baskets for Wauconda.

Nicolas Brinias led the way for the Bulldogs with 23 points, and Garrison Carter added 13.

Jake Terlecki led the way for the Tigers with 10 points.

Crystal Lake Central tried to prepare for the Bulldogs, but the task was too tall for the Tigers.

“I thought they competed for the most part after that first quarter,” Central coach Joe Capalbo said of his team. “We just had a slow start. We did a nice job of competing after that.”

Wauconda will take on host Prairie Ridge on Friday night and despite a strong opener, Luetschwagher wants to see more from his team.

“We just need to secure the basket and score on transition.” Luetschwagher said. “We left a lot of points on the board.”