SYCAMORE — Weathering the storm has become the early theme of the Hubs varsity basketball season, and the Rochelle boys faced another tough test in consolation action at Sycamore High School’s Strombom Tournament this past Saturday.

Rochelle faced Hampshire after going 1-2 in pool play with a win over Genoa-Kingston and losses to Dundee-Crown and Burlington Central. The Hubs topped the Whip-Purs twice over their previous two seasons, but Hampshire quickly pulled away from Rochelle the third time around, defeating the Hubs 70-54 to finish in fifth place and force Rochelle (1-3) to settle for sixth place.

“They were really good at the zone they played,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “They extended a 1-2-2 and they were really long around it. They gave us a lot of problems getting inside touches and preventing our little guys from seeing anything inside. When we did get inside we didn’t capitalize and make a lot of shots.”

Playing without seniors Angel Aguirre, Blake Albers and junior Noah Knight, who were all sidelined due to injury, The Hubs trailed 9-6 after the first quarter before falling behind 30-16 at halftime. Junior Johnny Beck carried Rochelle’s scoring load early, pouring in 11 points including one 3-pointer and four free throws.

“We were outrebounded big time, and even though our defense wasn’t that bad, we just didn’t make enough baskets to make it a fair game,” Thompson said. “We didn’t do great in the 1-3-1 but I thought we did a nice job in man-to-man… We forced them into shots we wanted them to take, but we couldn’t get out of defensive possessions.”

The Hubs doubled their offensive output in the second half, scoring 18 points in the third quarter before adding 19 in the fourth quarter. Beck upped his point total to 17 for the game, and senior Noah Mershon stepped up by scoring 10 of his 11 points in the second half.

But Rochelle was unable to stop the Whip-Purs, who led 51-34 after the third quarter and added 18 points in the fourth quarter. Senior Riley Lodico scored 10 points on four made field goals to help lead the Rochelle offense, while senior Komla Gati chipped in four points and senior Noah Griffith totaled five points.

“It’s really about cold shooting for us, and sometimes you wonder if it’s an anomaly or if it’s who we are right now,” Thompson said. “I just don’t feel like the kids are shooting with confidence and I feel like they’re rushing their shots. With Blake [Albers] coming back we’re really going to work on working inside-out as opposed to shooting so many perimeter jump shots as we have been.”

The Hubs will return to Rochelle Township High School for their first home game of the season against Genoa-Kingston on Tuesday at 7 p.m. A familiar opponent could boost the team’s confidence, but Thompson said he will be looking for his players to step up if the boys look to turn around a slow start to their season.

“We haven’t had a tremendous amount of continuity,” Thompson said. “We’ll have to weather the storm and keep the kids together, and eventually we’ll have our full team. Hopefully by that time we’ll be able to mesh, but right now it’s been a work in progress.”