It’s not often that two varsity basketball teams play each other three times in the same season, and it’s even rarer that one team picks up all three wins over the other. But that’s exactly what the Rochelle Hubs did when they battled the Genoa-Kingston Cogs in the opening consolation round of the E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic at Marengo High School.
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MARENGO — It’s not often that two varsity basketball teams play each other three times in the same season, and it’s even rarer that one team picks up all three wins over the other. But that’s exactly what the Rochelle Hubs did when they battled the Genoa-Kingston Cogs in the opening consolation round of the E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic at Marengo High School.
Rochelle defeated Genoa-Kingston twice prior to Thursday’s game, and the Hubs cruised to another victory over the Cogs, winning by a score of 62-43 to improve to 7-5 on the season. The Hubs will play for fifth place in the tournament against either Rockford Christian or Belvidere this weekend.
“It’s really difficult to beat the same team three times,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “I think we have some matchups that are difficult for them to handle… The first quarter was a struggle for us, but our pressure really got to them in the second quarter and we were able to make some layups off our defense.”
A slow start to Thursday’s game yielded a 9-8 advantage for the Hubs after one quarter before Rochelle poured in 24 points throughout the second quarter. Senior Noah Griffith hit two 3-pointers for six of his nine points in the game, while senior Angel Aguirre scored seven of his 10 points on three shots.
Six different Rochelle players scored in the second quarter, and behind a strong full-court press that limited Genoa-Kingston to nine points in the quarter, the Hubs went into their locker room up 33-17 at halftime.
“Genoa-Kingston started missing shots and we were limiting them to one shot instead of letting them get offensive rebounds,” Thompson said. “We were really able to get going in transition… They were a little fatigued, and when they missed shots we were able to get run-outs off of their misses.”
Turnovers and deflections crippled the Hubs in their game against Richmond-Burton on Wednesday, but the Rochelle boys took better care of the ball in their rematch with the Cogs. The Hubs remained ahead of Genoa-Kingston 45-27 after the third quarter, and their lead was sizeable enough to coast for the remainder of the game.
Junior Johnny Beck led Rochelle with 17 points, while senior Riley Lodico scored 13 points for the Hub offense.
