A promising start to the fourth quarter quickly turned sour for the Hubs varsity basketball team when the Rochelle boys took on Richmond-Burton in the second round of the E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic at Marengo Community High School on Wednesday.
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MARENGO — A promising start to the fourth quarter quickly turned sour for the Hubs varsity basketball team when the Rochelle boys took on Richmond-Burton in the second round of the E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic at Marengo Community High School on Wednesday.
Leading 44-37 in the final quarter, the purple and white looked to take command and keep their hopes of winning back-to-back tournament titles alive. But the Rockets had no plans of backing down, and after outscoring Rochelle 17-3 over the remainder of the fourth quarter, Richmond-Burton defeated the Hubs by a final score of 54-47.
The loss drops Rochelle’s overall record to 6-5, and the Hubs will move into the consolation bracket to compete for fifth place. Rochelle will play Genoa-Kingston on Thursday at 3 p.m.
“We reverted back to how we played in the first half,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “We were throwing balls off their hands and turning it over… They dictated the entire tempo of the game except for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. We couldn’t get anything going offensively and they kept pushing us out.”
Rochelle and Richmond-Burton remained tied 11-11 after the first quarter, and the Rockets took a slight lead over the Hubs at halftime, with Richmond-Burton outscoring Rochelle 12-8 in the second quarter to hold a 23-19 advantage. Senior Angel Aguirre and junior Johnny Beck each totaled six points to lead the Hubs in the first half.
“I thought we had the kids prepared at practice last night,” Thompson said. “They’re long at certain spots and they were able to stretch out their zone against us. They don’t let you get passes inside and they run their zone really well. We didn’t make enough shots and we didn’t get them turned over enough.”
Rochelle brought the game back to a 35-35 tie after three quarters thanks to some sharp shooting by senior Riley Lodico, who finished the game with 12 points. Beck ran his scoring total up to a team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, but the left-handed junior fouled out roughly halfway through the quarter, which helped pave the way for Richmond-Burton to score baskets inside. Aguirre ended the game with 10 points.
“They have to play at the pace I want them to play,” Thompson said. “They cannot turn the ball over, and if they keep turning the ball over, they might as well come to the bench… I’m done with the turnovers, the lazy passes and being passive offensively.”
