Winning postseason basketball games requires a winning mindset.

And winning postseason basketball games is what Crystal Lake South does.

So when Ryan Morgan took a pass with his team protecting a four-point lead down the stretch of Friday night’s Class 3A Crystal Lake South Regional final, the big sophomore didn’t hesitate.

He shot immediately from his spot in the right corner and swished the ball through the hoop.

“I think we all thought the same thing: ‘You better make that,’” Gators coach Matt LePage said. “That’s a defining moment. You got to give him credit. He was aggressive tonight. When he and Ryan [twin brother] are aggressive and making shots, it can be a difference-maker.”

South typically finds difference-making players in the state tournament and did again, overcoming a 16-point deficit to beat Cary-Grove 59-50 for its fourth regional championship in a row.

Three-year varsity players Nick Stowasser and Carson Trivellini scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Morgan came off the bench to score 12 points on four 3-pointers.

“I don’t know. Something just happened to me,” the bulky, 6-foot-7 Morgan said after going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. “I just felt it. I couldn’t stop making them.”

The victory earned South (26-7), winners of 11 straight, a berth in the Woodstock North Sectional. The Gators will play Sycamore (27-5) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a rematch of last year’s sectional semifinal at Rochelle.

“AJ Demirov texted me ‘Good luck’ today, Cooper LePage, all of these guys [past South players],” said Trivellini, who scored 10 points in the second half after C-G’s box-and-one defense helped limit him to 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. “I knew I had to keep it going for them.”

C-G (28-5), which won the Fox Valley Conference title and swept the season series against South, was led by Dylan Dumele’s game-high 18 points (three 3s). Adam Bauer had 12 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Bauer’s two free throws had the Trojans up 46-44 early in the fourth quarter. But Trivellini’s drive started a 12-0 run, which Noah Cook capped with a two-handed dunk with 1:25 left.

C-G shot 1 of 11 from the floor, including several missed layups in the fourth, losing to South in the regional final for the second year in a row.

“I think nerves got the best of our team,” said Brady Bauer, who had five points, three rebounds and three steals in his final game for the Trojans. “I think we beat them nine times out of 10, but this was their night, and congratulations to them for that.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Morgan, who played big minutes all last season as a freshman, played with composure all game, especially in the fourth. His 3-pointer from the top of the key early in the quarter, off a pass from his brother, got South to within 44-43.

Ryan Morgan scored a drive before his brother knocked down his ice-water-in-the-veins 3 with 2:19 left, extending the Gators’ lead to 53-46.

“I practice that shot every day,” John Morgan said of his right-corner 3. “When I’m feeling it, I’m going to shoot it. My coach is yelling, ‘Four-minute offense,” which is just layup and layup. But I was wide open in the corner. I just wanted to shoot it, and it went in."

Trivellini knows what his big forward can do.

“John’s a big part of this team,” Trivellini said. “He’s been working his butt off. He shot the ball great tonight. He can play inside. He can defend.”

Three transition layups in a row capped a 16-0 run for C-G, putting the Trojans up 25-19 with 4:21 left in the first half. But Stowasser, who finished with five steals, helped get South back into the game with his defense and offense.

Trailing 28-21 at halftime, the Gators opened the third quarter with Stowasser dunking an alley-oop lob from Trivellini. South, which played man-to-man defense most of the night in addition to showing its 1-3-1 zone, used full-court pressure to further chip away at its deficit.

John Morgan’s 3, also off a pass from his brother, put South up 32-30 with 5:49 left in the third.

“They played well,” C-G coach Adam McCloud said of the Gators. “They had some kids make some big shots. [No.] 34 [John Morgan] is not a 3-point shooter, and he made some shots, and we just had too many turnovers [19].”

South, which also got nine points and nine rebounds from Cook and six from Ryan Morgan, committed only two turnovers in the second half.

“I thought tonight we played the true team game,” LePage said. “That’s what it was going to take against a team like Cary, who’s been dominant all year and beat us twice. We had to change our ways a little bit to beat them.”

AJ Berndt, one of seven seniors on the Trojans’ roster, finished with eight points, including two first-half 3-pointers. C-G was seeking its first regional title since 2020.

“I wanted practice tomorrow,” McCloud said. “I wanted more time with them. Winning a regional would have been great. Beating South would have been great. But having more time together to keep our season alive is what we were going for. The seniors did everything for me.”