Komla Gati has been known to bring the hammer on defense, and Rochelle Township High School senior helped nail down the Genoa-Kingston offense when the Hubs varsity basketball team faced the Cogs in the opening round of Strombom Tournament action at Sycamore High School on Tuesday.
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SYCAMORE — Komla Gati has been known to bring the hammer on defense, and Rochelle Township High School senior helped nail down the Genoa-Kingston offense when the Hubs varsity basketball team faced the Cogs in the opening round of Strombom Tournament action at Sycamore High School on Tuesday.
Rochelle held Genoa-Kingston to just 18 points in the first half, and behind strong scoring performances from junior Johnny Beck and senior Riley Lodico, the Hubs locked down their first victory of the 2017-18 season, topping the Cogs by a final score of 53-38. Beck led all Rochelle players with 18 points, while Lodico added 13 points.
“The win helps take some pressure off of us,” said Gati, who scored six points in the victory. “We’re one game in and we’re going to continue working toward the next game. We were talking and we were all on the same page. I was up top in our 1-3-1 defense and I was able to get my hands on the ball. We were able to score off of that.”
While both teams struggled to find any offensive rhythm early in Tuesday’s contest, the Hubs held a 23-18 lead at halftime behind eight points from Beck. Despite only seven players earning the bulk of the playing time, Rochelle kept up its defensive intensity in the second half, increasing its lead to 34-25 after the third quarter concluded.
“It’s good to start the season off with a win,” said senior Noah Mershon, who scored seven points on Tuesday. “Monday was my first day of practice since we had a week off from football. It was a tiring game but we found a way to battle through it and get the win… We got our hands in their faces and forced them to make contested shots.”
Justin Peters and Michael Trzynka tried to keep Genoa-Kingston close, but the Rochelle squad proved too difficult for the Cogs to slow down. Despite combining for 23 points in the game, Peters, Trzynka and Genoa-Kingston were outscored 19-13 in the fourth quarter by the Hubs, who received points from seven different players. Seniors Angel Aguirre and Noah Griffith scored seven combined points, while junior Ben Redington added two points.
“It felt pretty good,” said sophomore Seth Gould, who earned his first career varsity win on Tuesday. “Komla basically did all of the work on defense. We were a little bit short on our shots and I think we can shoot a little bit better than we did tonight.”
