ROCHELLE — There was a great deal of emotion in the building when the Hubs varsity basketball team faced off against the Sterling Golden Warriors during its Senior Night game at Rochelle Township High School on Friday.

Maybe a little too much emotion.

Behind a 15-0 run to start the first quarter, the Northern Illinois Big 12 West champion Golden Warriors held off a mid-game surge by the Hubs to defeat Rochelle 62-48 and end the team’s eight-game home winning streak.

“It was a sectional atmosphere tonight,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “We probably had a little bit of nerves and adrenaline. Our shots were heavy and we were waiting for that first one to go down. I’m glad the kids got to experience this right before the regional… You just have to take a deep breath and play basketball like you always have.”

Sterling (21-8, 11-2 NIB-12) and Rochelle (19-7, 8-5 NIB-12) faced off at SHS earlier this month, with the Golden Warriors winning by a score of 63-47 behind 14 points and 12 rebounds by senior Ryan Blackburn. The Hubs trailed 18-6 after the first quarter Friday night, but the boys slowly worked their way back into the game, outscoring Sterling 20-15 in the second quarter to trail by just seven points at halftime.

Senior Landon Griffith led Rochelle with 10 of his team-high 16 points over the first two quarters, and Griffith’s mid-range jump shot in the third quarter put the Hubs ahead 39-37 and swung the momentum of the game into the purple and white’s favor as two loud and colorful student sections exchanged chants from each end of the gymnasium.

“We were just grinding it out,” Thompson said. “Matt Albers, Komla [Gati] and Kaywan [Palmer] were getting their hands on balls and scoring on a couple transition buckets… Sterling is really long and athletic so they’re able to come over from the weak side and really block shots.”

The Golden Warriors took the lead right back though, getting out in transition and quickly scoring at the other end, a theme that remained constant throughout the night for the Hubs. Sterling’s length and athleticism in the low post also gave Rochelle problems, with seniors Ryan and Reid Blackburn combining for 23 points in the game and senior forward Dimitric Young adding 16 more.

“Because they drive the ball, we’re always having to help on defense and it’s hard to get back out and try to seal people out,” Thompson said. “They’re always sending people to the offensive boards and they were able to get a lot of second-chance opportunities tonight… They anticipate getting rebounds so they’re able to release guys and that causes problems.”

Sterling held a 43-41 lead at the end of the third quarter, but after battling so hard to get back in the game, the Hubs ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. The Golden Warriors stretched their lead by as many as 11 points with less than two minutes to play before Thompson went to his bench in order for his starters to get some rest.

The loss is only Rochelle’s first of the season at home, but the boys will have a chance to bounce right back when they tip off regional play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Hubs are seeded first in their regional bracket, and they will take on either the eighth-ranked Freeport Pretzels or the 11th-ranked Stillman Valley Cardinals in the semifinal round.

Regardless of who the opponent is, however, Thompson is hoping the experience his team gained during Friday night’s action will help prepare it for playing in the postseason.

“I don’t think you can really understand what it’s like until you play in gyms all the time that are really crowded and people are that excited,” he said. “If we play the game we want to… we’re going to get the shots we want and if we knock them down and press the way we can, I think we’ll be in good shape.”