Belvidere North 62, Crystal Lake Central 40: It will be an all-Belvidere Class 3A final as the Thunder and Bucs won in very different fashions in semifinal regional play Wednesday.
Belvidere North advanced with a 62-40 win over Crystal Lake Central.

After having a 27-11 lead shrink to 37-33, Belvidere North put on a 15-0 run to close out Crystal Lake Central in what seemed to be three-part game.

“When we executed and didn’t rush our shots, good things happened,” North coach Darrin Sisk said.

Much of that execution came in the form of trap-breaking passing. A textbook example was Tyler Nelson, Kyle Dovenmuehle and Jack Adams combining for a score to make it 52-33 with five minutes left in the game.

“That third pass is where we break the defense down,” Sisk said.

In the first quarter, the Blue Thunder used back-to-back 3-pointers by sixth man, Jake Billon, to take a 19-5 lead. Billon had 16 points and Adams 17.
“We’ve been clicking as a team,” Adams said. “It’s nice to have a back-up cast this year.”

Central’s Connor Buxton, who had 25 points against North earlier in the year, was held to seven points.

-Andy Colbert, rrstar.com