Crystal Lake South rolling to Rochelle to play Sycamore

After AJ Demirov’s first two 3-point tries in the first quarter Friday night missed, Crystal Lake South’s senior point guard started driving to the basket to find his offense.

Find it, he did. Demirov finished with a game-high 21 points – leaving him 23 shy of 2,000 for his four-year varsity career – as the Gators beat Cary-Grove 65-47 in the Class 3A Prairie Ridge Regional final.

Demirov sank seven shots, and only his second-quarter 3-pointer came from outside the lane. He finished a pair of layups in transition in the fourth quarter and went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line as the Gators pulled away en route to their third regional title in a row.

Demirov drives next will be seen Tuesday night, as South (29-4) makes a 60-mile drive to Rochelle to play Sycamore (24-8) in a 7 p.m. sectional semifinal. A win will give the Gators their second 30-win season in a row after they won a school-record 31 times last season.

“We went over to Freeport in the middle of the season to experience that drive, close to two hours,” said coach Matt LePage, whose Gators beat host Freeport 75-63 in a nonconference Saturday matinee Jan. 18.

Tuesday’s winner will play Friday for the sectional title against Wednesday’s winner between Kaneland (30-1) and surprising Rockford Boylan (6-26), which won the Freeport Regional despite winning only four games in the regular season.

Sycamore, which went 8-2 in the Interstate 8 Conference in finishing second to 10-0 Kaneland, will be playing in a sectional for the first time since 2017 after beating Belvidere North 59-44 in the Woodstock North Regional final. Michael Chami, a 6-foot-6 senior center, had 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots in the Spartans’ win.

“They’re athletic, and they’ve been playing good basketball as of late,” said LePage, whose Gators have won nine straight.

South and Sycamore have played two common opponents – Waukegan and Woodstock North – and have had similar results. South lost to Waukegan 79-66 in its second game of the season Nov. 27 at Johnsburg. Waukegan beat Sycamore 82-63 on Dec. 28 at Elgin.

South beat host Woodstock North 71-53 in a nonconference game Jan. 11, while Sycamore topped host North 57-49 in a regional semifinal last week.

“We are battle-tested,” Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin said. “We have prepared this team for every possible scenario. We’ve played teams from the city and suburbs, and played against different styles.”

Promise for Cary-Grove: Cary-Grove graduates only four seniors off a 19-win team and will welcome back four juniors who started Friday night’s Prairie Ridge Regional final against Crystal Lake South: center Adam Bauer, point guard AJ Berndt, guard Dylan Dumele and forward Brady Elbert.

Senior guard Justice German missed the Trojans' final six games after tearing his right ACL before senior night Feb. 11. German, who was one of the team’s best 3-point threats, had been starting all season. It was a noncontact injury.

“I feel for him,” coach Adam McCloud said after the Trojans' loss to South at Prairie Ridge. “I definitely would have had him as a starter tonight. It would have helped us.”

The Trojans had lost four straight when German injured his knee. They won four of their next five, including back-to-back wins over Burlington Central, the latter in the regional semifinals.

“Our guys had some resolve [after German’s injury],” McCloud said. “We used that to galvanize our effort, playing for him. Our effort was there [against South]. We just didn’t execute well enough to beat a really good team.”

Guard Landon Nawracaj (five points, five rebounds) was McCloud’s only senior starter in the regional final. Forward Ryan Boutwell, who started often during the regular season, and Landon Barnett also will graduate this spring.

“I’ll miss the seniors,” McCloud said. “They gave me everything. Great kids.”

Bauer power: Bauer, C-G’s 6-6 center and two-year starter, had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the team’s season-ending loss. He put together a breakout season that included eight 20-point efforts. Bauer scored 72 points in the Trojans' last three games.

“Big step [this season],” McCloud said. “He’s a guy who, if he’s got another step or two to take, I think the sky’s the limit. He can be dominant.”

McCloud is encouraged with what his team can do next season, as well. Brady Bauer, Adam’s twin, played plenty of minutes coming off the bench this season.

“I think we’ll be back next year, 100%,” McCloud said. “We have a good class coming back. ... I hope these guys take it upon themselves to offseason train, work, get in the gym, get in the weight room and then close this kind of game [regional final]. I’m looking forward to next season with that class.”