HAMPSHIRE – The Kaneland boys basketball team took home fifth place in the Central MLK Classic, beating host school Hampshire, 73-60, on Monday afternoon.
After a tight first quarter, Kaneland (7-12, 1-3 Northern Illinois Big 12) opened up the game in transition, having multiple point swings after Hampshire misses. The Knights were able to grow their lead before halftime, helping them weather the Whip-Purs’ pushes in the third and fourth quarters.
“We’ve been trying to find that energy level that we need to win the 50-50 games,” Kaneland coach Joe Conroy said. “We didn’t feel like we had any wins this year in that category. We feel like we beat teams that we were supposed to beat and we’ve had one or two that were close. … We knew they played at 12:30. … We felt like if we got out and ran, that was going to bring out our energy.”
Senior Blake Feiza led the Knights with 18 points on the evening, with a third of those coming in the fourth quarter.
“A lot of our energy came from our bench,” Fieza said. “They were always really enthusiastic whenever we’d make a good play or get a steal. They really helped us stay on track on and off of the floor.”
Hampshire (5-12, 1-5 Fox Valley) cut a double-digit lead down to four by the end of the first quarter. Its offense, however, went cold in the second quarter, scoring only
nine points.
“The hard thing is getting down early,” Whip-Purs coach Ben Whitehouse said. “Your margin for error down the stretch is zero. We kept clawing and fighting, but we needed that big stop and we just couldn’t do it. … We would miss, be slow to get back, and they would get transition baskets. ... You have to make it easier on yourselves, especially in the first and second quarters.”
By the numbers: Three Kaneland bench players chipped in a combined 24 points.
Beyond the stats: In the second quarter, Kaneland pulled off what Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse referred to as an “eight-point swing,”scoring two transition baskets off Hampshire misses.
They said it: “Not only do we not score four points; we gave them four points in transition,” Whitehouse said.
Up next: Kaneland travels to DeKalb at 7 p.m. Friday. Hampshire hosts Cary-Grove at 7 p.m. Friday.