Hoffman Estates handles Prairie Ridge to reach Hinkle semifinals
Prairie Ridge felt good about its situation at halftime chasing Hoffman Estates by only one basket.
Only a few minutes into the third quarter, though, the Wolves did not feel well at all.
The Hawks unleashed some tenacious defense after halftime and clamped down hard on Prairie Ridge. Through the first 13-plus minutes of the second half, the Wolves scored only five points.
"We really just picked up the defensive intensity," Hawks guard Trendell Whiting said. "We knew that they couldn't handle our physicality, so we made sure we were physical with everything on defense.
"You can definitely feel it. They have the uncomfortableness we set on them. Defense always leads to offense. We know we have to start it on defense."
Hoffman Estates broke it open and cruised to a 52-39 victory in the quarterfinals of Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic on Wednesday. The Hawks (8-4) will meet Crystal Lake South (11-3) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the second semifinal.
Hoffman Estates stuck with its man-to-man defense through the third quarter, then went to a 2-3 zone in the fourth, which was equally effective.
"At halftime we were pleased with our first half, but we weren't satisfied," Hawks coach Pete McBride said. "The way we defend, communication's vital and we didn't feel we communicated as well as we could have in the first half. We talked about cleaning that up.
"They're a team that executes really well and they run their stuff really well. We had to take a sense of pride in stopping that and we did."
Prairie Ridge (6-6) trailed 26-24 at halftime and the Hawks' big man, 6-foot-9 senior DJ Wallace, had three fouls. But the Hawks were all over the Wolves, who hit only 5 of 22 field-goal attempts after halftime.
"They were physical with us," Wolves coach Ryan Smith said. "Hoffman does a good job pressuring the basketball. A little style we don't always see in the Fox Valley (conference). We got a little frustrated missing some shots and unfortunately some of our frustration carried over to some poor rotations on defense.
"I was really happy with how we played the first half. We matched their energy, we were physical. Hoffman played a great first half. For us to be within two, I was very pleased with how we played."
James Muse led Prairie Ridge with 10 points, all in the first half. John Fuery added eight points with two 3-pointers.
Whiting led the Hawks with 17 points, Wallace had 14 and Nate Cleveland scored 10.
Hoffman Estates won the IC Catholic Tournament last year and is at the Hinkle for the first time.
"It's exciting. We're ready to get to it," Whiting said. "We have a lot more to prove. We haven't proven anything yet."