OTTAWA — Despite another outstanding defensive effort from the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity basketball team, victory was slightly out of reach when the girls battled Ottawa on Wednesday.

Trailing 19-17 at halftime, Rochelle stymied the Pirate offense in the third quarter, holding Ottawa to only one point and taking a 22-18 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Hubs were unable to hit enough shots down the stretch, however, as the Pirates outscored Rochelle 12-5 in the final quarter to win 32-27 and drop the Lady Hubs to 2-4 on the season. Rochelle will continue Interstate 8 Conference competition at Sycamore on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.

“This is probably the best defensive team I’ve had throughout my tenure at Rochelle,” head coach Tony Rowan said. “I’m really proud of how the kids understood the game plan and knew what we needed to take away from them. We’re still struggling to find baskets offensively, especially when we need them most. A lot of our girls have two solid years of playing together and our team chemistry is improving. It’s huge when our team trust is extremely high.”

Junior Zoey Tabor scored a team-high nine points and grabbed five rebounds for the Lady Hubs, who were without starting guard Josie Lundquist due to a foot injury. Senior Sofia Lenkaitis led the defensive effort with three steals, while senior Afi Gati stepped up inside with 14 rebounds including seven on the defensive end and seven on the offensive end. Rochelle’s offensive struggles continued Wednesday, with the team shooting 22 percent from the field.

“We’re always talking about setting and reading screens, when to make back-door cuts and when to meet the basketball,” Rowan said. “Some of these kids have a lot of varsity experience and some of them don’t, but we need to keep getting out there and building confidence.”

JV

The Lady Hub JV basketball team played a close game against Ottawa on Wednesday, falling 35-29 and moving to 1-4 overall. The JV girls will play at Sycamore on Friday at 5 p.m.