Boys Basketball

Boys basketball: Burlington Central beats Crystal Lake Central behind big 2nd quarter

It was a second quarter to remember for Burlington Central. It was one to forget for Crystal Lake Central.

Nursing a slim 10-7 lead after 8 minutes, the Rockets out scored the Tigers 22-7 in the second quarter and held a decisive 32-14 lead at halftime.

Outscoring the host Tigers 34-19 in the second half, Burlington cruised to a 66-33 victory in Fox Valley Conference action Friday night.

The Rockets, the No. 1 seed in the upcoming FVC tournament, end the regular season with a perfect 9-0 conference slate and 12-1 overall mark.

“It was their senior night and it has been a weird season,” Central coach Brett Porto said. “There are 100 reasons why we got off to a slow start. We got some nice shots and played with energy and chemistry. We played more our style in the second quarter.”

The Rockets seized control of the game to start the second quarter with an 11-1 run.

Burlington, which made its first five shots, got five points from Carson Seyller, a 3 from Steve Langtim and a layup from Zac Schmidt. Central extended a 3-point first quarter advantage to 21-8 with 5:22 left in the half.

Connecting on 9-of-11 shots from the field for 81% in the second quarter, the Rockets held an 18-point lead after 16 minutes.

Burlington made sure there wouldn’t be a Tiger comeback by scoring the first 10 points of the second half. Five points from Seyller and Andrew Scharnowski propelled the Rockets to a 42-14 lead with 5:10 left in the quarter.

The Tigers’ first points of the half came on a 3 by Logan Gramly at the 3:55 mark to make the score 42-17.

Burlington Central, which made 27-of-43 from the field for 62%, was led by Seyller, who made 7-of-10 shots, with 17 points.

“We have had some slow starts this season,” Seyller said. “In the second quarter, our defense led to offense. We got better shots and were pushing the ball up the court. We beat every team in the conference and are a hot team going into the tournament. We want to finish with as many wins as possible.”

Langtim, who jump started the Rockets with a pair of 3s in the first quarter, ended with 10 points and three baskets from beyond the arc.

“We were really struggling to start the game,” Porto said. “Steve hit some big 3s and really pulled us up.”

Schmidt added 10 with six rebounds and three assists for the winners.

Ryan Van Witzenburg was the lone Tiger in double digits with 10 points.