HINSDALE CENTRAL HOLIDAY CLASSIC

HC SQUARED:  Building a New Tradition of Basketball at Its Best
 

2016 GAME 16 RECAP: DEPAUL PREP 64, HINSDALE CENTRAL 62 (6OT)

Box Score

HINSDALE, Ill. - Matthew Tonkel's tip-in at the buzzer gave DePaul Prep a 64-62 win over Hinsdale Central in six overtimes in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.

The evenly matched contest featured 21 ties and 22 lead changes. The score was even at 11-11 after the first quarter before DePaul took an 18-15 lead late in the second quarter on an Elliott Sieger three-pointer. Hinsdale Central pulled even at 18-18 at the half as Jack Hoiberg knocked down a trey just before the buzzer.

The lead changed hands four times in the third quarter before DePaul Prep took a 28-26 lead into the fourth after Fred Nunez hit a pair of free throws. The Rams took their largest lead of the day at four points early in the fourth quarter. The Red Devils cut the lead in half on a Trevor Hamilton bucket and then recaptured the lead on a three-point play from Hoiberg with four minutes remaining. The lead changed hands two more times over the next 2:30 before Fred Nunez put DePaul up 34-33 with 1:30 remaining. The Rams beat the Red Devils' full court press leading to a dunk from Perry Cowan resulting in a 36-33 lead with 44 seconds left. The Red Devils pulled even just 11 seconds later when Hoiberg converted a three-point play sending the game to overtime.

Three overtime periods weren't enough to decide the game as it headed to a fourth overtime tied at 47-47. In the fourth OT, Hinsdale Central took an early two-point lead on a Chris Eck jumper, but back-to-back layups from Elliott Sieger gave DePaul a 51-49 lead with just under two minutes left. A breakaway layup from Amaree Richardson put the Rams up by four with under a minute, but Hoiberg converted a three-point play to pull Hinsdale back to within a point with 45 seconds left. A Sieger free throw gave the Rams a two-point cushion, but Hoiberg hit another jumper to send the game to a fifth OT.

Hinsdale Central hit the first bucket of the fifth OT, but three straight Rams free throws followed by a breakaway bucket from Richardson gave DePaul Prep a three-point cushion with less than a minute to play. Hinsdale cut it back to one after a Hoiberg bucket, but a Rams' free throw gave DePaul a two-point cushion. Danny Ahern hit a bucket to tie the game and send it to a sixth OT period.

In the sixth OT, the game was tied at 62-62 all when Matthew Tonkel blocked a Hinsdale shot. After collecting an outlet pass, Tonkel's shot rimmed off, but he tipped the ball back in at the buzzer to give DePaul Prep the 64-62 win.

DePaul (9-3) shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the floor, including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from downtown. Fred Nunez led the way with 24 points while Sieger totaled 15. Pavle Pantovic finished with 10 while Tonkel totaled eight points and 15 rebounds.

Hoiberg had a career day to pace Hinsdale Central (5-5) in the loss, pumping in 32 points while shooting 12-of-25 from the floor. Michael Yaeger came off the bench to score 10. The Red Devils shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the floor, including 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from downtown.

DePaul Prep will face Homewood-Flossmoor in Thursday's semifinal at 8:30 p.m. Hinsdale Central faces Rockford Auburn in the fifth-place bracket on Thursday (December 29) at 5:15 p.m.