SYCAMORE — Effort and energy were what head coach Tim Thompson was looking to see as the Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team tipped off the 2024-25 season during the 60th Annual Leland G. Strombom Thanksgiving Tournament at Sycamore High School this past week.

Rochelle was unable to emerge with a victory over three games, opening the season with an 0-3 record after losses against Yorkville, Dixon and Dundee-Crown. The Hubs concluded the tournament on Saturday afternoon, when Rochelle bowed out with an 80-52 defeat against Dundee-Crown. Junior guard Van Gerber led Rochelle with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, while sophomore forward Brody Bruns collected 11 points and eight rebounds.

“I wanted to see effort and I wanted to see them do the right things,” Thompson said. “I think we can be a good 3-point shooting team and that kept us relatively close in the first quarter, but [Dundee-Crown] was sopping up the middle and their guards gave our guards problems when we tried getting into our offense. They wouldn’t let us out on the break and they had good athletes who slowed us down... We need to figure out how we can get into our offense.”

The Chargers pulled ahead in the opening half, where the backcourt of Terrion Spencer and Jared Russell controlled the tempo on offense to help Dundee-Crown build a 41-27 halftime advantage. Russell poured in a game-high 32 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 6-of-11 from 3-point range, while Spencer totaled 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. 

Rochelle (0-3, 0-0 Interstate 8) knocked down 3-point shots consistently in the first half, but the Hubs had a tough time finishing possessions in the second half, where Dundee-Crown limited the purple and white to only nine points during the third quarter to build a 56-36 lead. Gerber and senior guard Carson Lewis were efficient from the 3-point line, with the pair combining to make six triples. Lewis finished with nine points, three assists and two rebounds in the game.

“When we start missing shots, we start getting discouraged,” Thompson said. “[Dundee-Crown] was able to gain confidence. Coach [Jared] Johnson and I need to watch the film and see what needs to be fixed defensively to be able to get stops. We have to be better at the basic skills. I like this team and I think we can be good, but it’s discouraging when we can’t get a victory.”

The loss to the Chargers capped off a tough tournament for the Hubs, who officially started their season with an opening-round loss against Yorkville on Wednesday evening. Rochelle shot nearly 44 percent from the field, but turnover issues plagued the Hubs throughout the game, as the purple and white committed 33 of them in a 76-53 defeat. Lewis scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with four rebounds, while Bruns added eight points and eight rebounds in the loss.

“I thought we held our own in the first quarter,” Thompson said. “I thought we were aggressive defensively and we made things difficult for them, but we had an atrocious second quarter for a variety of reasons, most of which were unforced errors. We were throwing the ball away and not handling the ball properly… We looked like a team that hasn’t been in the gym a lot.”

Rochelle’s best effort of the tournament came during a consolation-round matchup against Dixon on Thursday evening, when the Hubs took the Dukes down to the final buzzer. Rochelle fired off a 3-pointer to tie the score, but the shot fell just short of the hoop, allowing the Dukes to outlast the Hubs 72-69. Bruns was a force for Rochelle, scoring a team-high 23 points while adding 14 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive end, for his first double-double this season.

“I thought Brody had a pretty good bounce to his legs,” Thompson said. “He was getting to his spots and he was fighting down low. He was tremendous on the boards and he was making his free throws. He’s going to keep getting better…  I thought we played pretty well at times, but any time we needed something to tie the game up or take the lead, we’d make a mistake.”

Rochelle controlled the glass against the Dukes, outrebounding Dixon 42-31 and outscoring the Dukes 32-18 in the painted area. Lewis compiled 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, while senior guard Elijah Harley chipped in 12 points, four rebounds and two assists. Gerber added 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range with three assists in the loss against Dixon. The Hubs will return to action with a road game against Sycamore on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.