ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team had a hard time finding any offensive rhythm during Interstate 8 Conference action against the Kaneland Knights on Wednesday.

The Knights pressured Rochelle’s ball handlers on the perimeter all night, forcing numerous turnovers and cutting off any driving lanes to the basket. Behind senior Jamari Meeks, who scored a game-high 21 points and spearheaded Kaneland’s defensive effort, the Knights coasted over the Hubs 66-45. Rochelle fell to 4-6 overall and 4-5 in the conference. Hub senior Garrett Burdin totaled 11 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his high school career.

“It’s always exciting when our players score over 1,000 points,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “He’s on the verge of 200 3-pointers for his career and he’s always had a scorer’s mentality... He’s been a good leader for our team this season and he’s shot the ball well for the most part.”

Rochelle held an early 6-2 lead in the first quarter before Kaneland took over with its defensive tenacity, holding the Hubs to only four points over nearly eight minutes of play. Meeks converted seven of his eight field goals in the first half, many of them layups, igniting a 31-4 Kaneland run over the first two quarters that pushed the Knights up 35-16 at the half.

“We’ve talked about how hard Kaneland defends,” Thompson said. “They’re great at pressuring the ball and we had a hard time getting around them. They’re also great at defending the passing lanes and it was difficult for us to get into any offense. Our kryptonite right now is that we struggle with our guard play when teams play us tightly and don’t let us run offense. Kaneland wouldn’t let us get into transition and they guarded us really well tonight.”

Junior Noah Brown created a shooting spark for the Hubs in the third quarter, knocking down three triples for nine of his team-high 13 points. Rochelle attempted to get back into the game with its full-court pressure defense, but Kaneland countered with a steady dose of 6-foot-5 center David Kolev, who made four shots under the basket in the second half and hit a pair of free throws for 10 of his 20 points. The Hubs will play at Sandwich on Friday, March 5 at 7 p.m.

“Kolev was mopping things up around the rim all night,” Thompson said. “He used his physicality really well. We did everything we could defensively to get back into the game, but Kaneland was too disciplined with the ball… I told the kids after the game that we struggle when teams pressure us and we’re struggling when we can’t get in transition.”

Sophomores

The Rochelle Hub sophomore basketball team defeated Kaneland on Wednesday, winning 51-43 and improving to 5-5 overall. The sophomores will play at Sandwich on Friday at 5 p.m.