Crystal Lake Central guard Sonny Shanahan doesn’t have to look far to find, in his opinion, the best defender on his basketball team.

He lives with him. And shares the same birthday.

“He’s our best defender, for sure,” Shanahan said of his fraternal twin, Bud, who’s 20 minutes older.

At 6-foot, Bud Shanahan wouldn’t seem like Tigers coach Brian Seaver’s best candidate to guard Adam Anwar, who’s one of the top big men in the Fox Valley Conference. That was Shanahan’s assignment Tuesday night, however, as Central hosted McHenry.

With the help of his teammates, Bud Shanahan made his presence known defensively. He even scored a team-high 12 points, while 6-7 Danny Spychala had 10 points and 10 rebounds in Central’s 55-38 win.

“I think [Seaver] put me on [Anwar] because I’m a physical guy,” Bud Shanahan said. “I like [playing against] big guys. I like the weight room.”

The 6-7, 225-pound Anwar led all scorers with 13 points – seven points below his season average – but shot only 3 of 13 from the floor after opening the game with a 3-pointer. Anwar gave credit to the 180-pound Bud Shanahan, saying his defender was in his chest and gave him only a small gap to operate.

“Whenever I caught the ball, he was really up into me,” said Anwar, who was coming off a career-high 36 points against Jacobs on Friday. “Not just him, but all five on the floor were connected on defense, and they all played their tails off. They were just being really physical.”

Led by Spychala and Johnny Geisser, who knocked down two 3s in 47 seconds, Central (18-10, 6-9 FVC) closed the first quarter with a 15-0 run. When Bud Shanahan drained a right-corner 3 early in the second quarter, the Tigers’ lead was 22-6.

“They came out with more energy than we did, and that’s something that we got to clean up,” Anwar said. “We talk about that in the pregame huddle every single game, that everything’s about us, everything’s about being together – and it’s on me. As a leader, I’ve got to be better at getting us going, especially off the jump.”

Blake Renfro (six points, six rebounds) scored on a putback with 5:12 left in the third to get McHenry (18-10, 9-6) to within 33-27, but then a 66-second stretch by the Tigers’ junior twins helped open the game up again.

Sonny Shanahan made a 3-pointer from the right wing, and his brother made one “from the train station,” the PA announcer shouted.

Bud Shanahan then stole the ball, scored and was fouled, extending the Tigers’ lead to 41-27 with 3:28 to go in the third. Bud Shanahan strutted toward his brother, and the two exchanged a chest bump.

“I was extremely excited for him,” said Sonny Shanahan, who made another 3-pointer with 1:01 left in the third to hike the Tigers’ lead to 44-28. “He puts in the hard work.”

“We were just playing together,” said Bud Shanahan, whose three field goals included two 3-pointers. “We were moving the ball really well, so it was just whoever had the opportunity to score.”

Geisser drained a 25-footer from the top of the key to beat the buzzer, and Central took a 47-28 cushion into the fourth.

Sonny Shanahan and Geisser each made three 3s and finished with nine points. Logan Laudadio added eight points and three steals for the Tigers, who won their third in a row and avenged a 60-42 loss a month ago.

“We needed it,” Bud Shanahan said.

McHenry, which had won its past three FVC games, shot 10 of 36 (28%) from the floor and committed 20 turnovers.

Like Anwar, McHenry coach Corky Card gave all the credit to the Tigers and their defense.

“They played super hard, and they deserved it,” Card said. “I tell our kids, ‘The toughest team wins,’ and [Central was], by far, the toughest team.”