ROCHELLE — Hubs varsity basketball coach Tim Thompson thought Yorkville’s Javell Moore looked like Russell Westbrook during the first half of Rochelle’s home game against the Foxes on Tuesday. Moore scored 17 of his team-high 22 points over the first two quarters, and his efforts helped Yorkville take down Rochelle by a final score of 67-64.

The Hubs (11-8) won the opening tip-off but the boys couldn’t find the basket early in the first quarter. Yorkville entered Tuesday’s contest having won each of its last eight games, and the Foxes began the night on a 10-0 run before leading 22-9 after the first quarter.

“We had [Moore] scouted out and we knew we had to move our feet because he can really finish at the rim,” Thompson said. “He was their offense in the first half. We just didn’t come out right from the tip, and you can’t do that against the top team in the conference.”

Yorkville’s Logan Habada also make things difficult for Rochelle. Habada sunk five 3-pointers in the game to finish with 19 points, and his shooting troubled the Hubs on defense. Yorkville led Rochelle 37-23 at halftime.

“Their offense gives them the ability to gap and break us down,” Thompson said. “They didn’t seem to be turning the ball over early, and once they were in the lane and they were forcing us to collapse, they were able to get good shooters like Habada the ball.”

Trailing by 14 points to begin the second half, the Hubs increased their pressure on the Yorkville offense, and the Rochelle boys managed to work their way back into Tuesday’s game behind their defense. The Hubs held Yorkville to eight points in the third quarter and trailed by just seven points when the buzzer sounded (45-38).

“We were just being relentless with our press and we were taking chances,” Thompson said. “We started the second half with our 1-3-1 and we were able to get a couple of traps… We were taking chances and fortunately they were missing shots. We just need to capitalize on every turnover we create.”

Rochelle cut Yorkville’s lead to as little as two points late in the fourth quarter. Junior Johnny Beck hit a pair of tough mid-range shots as part of his game-high 23 points, and senior Angel Aguirre attacked the basket with purpose, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the second half and knocking down several free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Hubs come back.

“We haven’t shot the ball all that well recently, but we feel like we’re a good free-throw shooting team,” Thompson said. “We’ve talked about attacking the basket more and forcing the referees to blow their whistles. Angel’s the best at it on our team and he’ll need to continue attacking for us moving forward.”