ROCHELLE — Junior guard Austin Brown dribbled into the paint and sunk a mid-range jumper early in the first quarter of the Rochelle varsity boys basketball team’s conference game against Ottawa on Friday.

Brown’s basket broke Ottawa’s 7-0 run to open the game, but the two points were all Rochelle would muster in the opening quarter. The Pirates entered the second quarter leading 19-2, and Ottawa’s fast-paced offense burned the Hubs throughout the night.

Behind 19 points from Tyler Carson and 15 points from Dakota Deverteuil, Ottawa won 74-41 and dropped Rochelle to 3-6 overall. The Hubs were playing without All-Conference forward and leading scorer Johnny Beck, who was sidelined with an ankle injury

“There wasn’t great execution on our part but some of that was dictated by what Ottawa does,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “They’re so good with their half-court defense and they really play the passing lanes which makes what we’re doing difficult… It was tough without a legitimate post player in there.”

Despite Ottawa’s quick start to the game, Rochelle rallied behind the 3-point shot to battle back into striking distance. Brown, junior Ben Hickey and sophomore Garrett Burdin each made 3-pointers in the second quarter, and the Hubs outscored the Pirates 15-12 to enter the locker room trailing 31-17.

“We shot the ball well and we felt like we could shoot the ball well with this group,” Thompson said. “I felt like we played much better over the second and third quarters, but the fourth quarter got away from us… I feel like we’re having a hard time getting shots off quickly and I don’t think we’re hitting enough guys in the shooting pocket.”

Four different Hubs including senior Kaleb Ackland, Hickey, Brown and junior Seth Gould sank 3-pointers in the third quarter. Gould led all Rochelle scorers with seven points in the quarter, but the Pirate offense was too strong around the basket, as Ottawa’s taller and more athletic forwards finished on second and third-opportunities around the basket.

“We’re usually the team that wants to get out and run but they were seemingly more athletic at every position,” Thompson said. “It was in our game plan to try and not let that happen. When you aren’t big, you can’t send everybody back. Otherwise, you’ll always be one-and-out on shot attempts… We definitely needed to be better in our transition defense.”

Brown and senior Isaac Green each knocked down 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, with senior Mason DeLille adding a turnaround jumper near the base line for two points. Brown led Rochelle with 11 points in the game, while Gould scored nine points and Hickey finished with six points. Burdin and junior Landan Martin combined for seven points in the loss.

“I feel like Johnny’s absence could be a blessing in disguise if our kids can figure out how to score from the perimeter,” Thompson said. “When Johnny comes back, we’ll have a post player to go along with better guard play.”