Carson Trivellini buried his head in his dad’s ample shoulders and shared a postgame bear hug that lasted for what seemed like a full minute.

Losing hurts, and the scratched and bloodied arms of Crystal Lake South’s star guard were proof that the Gators’ 51-41 loss to Kaneland in Friday night’s Class 3A Woodstock North Sectional final was physically painful as well as emotionally.

“I got blood all over me,” Trivellini said. “It’s whatever. It’s been like that all year.”

Kaneland’s physicality and clutch shot-making ultimately kept the Knights’ perfect season intact and earned them a berth in the NIU Supersectional. Kaneland (34-0) will play Morton (29-4) at 6 p.m. Monday in DeKalb.

South, which had won 12 in a row, finished 27-8 with a team that featured only one senior starter in David McFadden. The Gators shot 17 of 47 (36%) from the floor, including 8 of 27 in the first half, yet trailed only 28-22 thanks to Ryan Morgan’s 3-pointer to beat the buzzer.

“Intense moments,” Noah Cook, who had 10 points and four rebounds, said of South’s shooting struggles against a Kaneland squad that features 6-foot-9 lane clogger Jeffrey Hassan. “We’re a young team. I feel like next year we’ll be more developed, more mature, and those shots will fall.”

Trevillini missed his first nine shots, all on drives or mid-range jumpers, but tried to rally his team in the second half, and he did. His drive at the 6-minute mark started the second-half scoring, and his spin move and finish tied the score at 28-all midway through the third.

South kept Kaneland from the scoring for nearly the first six minutes of the second half.

“Incredible defensive effort to give them as much trouble as we did,” South coach Matt LePage said. “It was a credit to our kids and the energy they played with. However, at the end of the day, it’s a game of shot-making.”

Kaneland made shots, in particular, down the stretch in the third. South had taken its first lead when McFadden scored his only basket, muscling in a shot on the baseline, to put the Gators ahead 30-28 with 2:28 to go.

But Connor Kimme (game-high 17 points) sank a left-wing 3-pointer with 2:04 left, then took a charge on Cook. Marshawn Cocroft (16 points) followed by draining his third 3 of the game to hike the Knights’ lead to 34-30.

Nick Stowasser, whose 13 points led South, answered with a 3-pointer. But Jalen Carter sank Kaneland’s third shot in a row from beyond the arc to put his team up 37-33 entering the fourth.

“[South] made that run, but we know how good we are,” said Kimme, who shot 3 of 6 from 3-point range. “We know that we can’t let that affect us. We’ve been doing it all season. Our team chemistry is amazing.”

Cook’s turnaround 10-footer had the Gators within 45-41 with 3:11 left in the fourth. But Cocroft fed Hassan for a two-handed dunk in transition with 2:03 to go, and 11 seconds later Trivellini was called for an offensive foul, his fifth.

South never scored again with its veteran point guard out of the game.

“Sometimes [fouls] aren’t going to be called,” said Trivellini, who couldn’t remember ever fouling out of a game. “You just got to be strong when you’re going to the hoop. I think there were probably a couple of goal-tends that didn’t get called, but at the end of the day you can’t make excuses.”

Kaneland ended up scoring the game’s final six points in beating South in the sectional final for the second year in a row. The Gators beat the Knights in the sectional final in 2024.

“Those last nine minutes, it was tough,” LePage said. “That’s why they’re undefeated. They’re a really good team, and defensively it’s difficult to get it in the paint with confidence all the time when that (No.) 34 kid (Hassan) is in the middle. He’s a difference-maker. And (No.) 3’s (Cocroft’s) ball pressure is elite.”

Trivellini, who finished with nine points and six rebounds, will head into next season hoping to lead the Gators to a sectional for the fifth year in a row.

“This summer my guys and I are going to get to work,” Trivellini said. “Whoever plays us next year should be scared. We’re coming.”