PEORIA — A tremendous season came to a close for the Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team during the IHSA 3A Peoria Sectional Semifinals at the Bradley University Renaissance Coliseum on Tuesday night.

Facing No. 1 seed Metamora for a chance to compete for a sectional title, Rochelle fell behind early and struggled against the athletic Redbirds, who smothered the Hubs with their man-to-man defense and frequently beat Rochelle defenders off the dribble. Behind four double-digit scorers including 6-foot-6 forward Ethan Kizer, who led the Redbirds with 15 points, Metamora cruised over Rochelle 70-42.

“We had one of our most amazing turnarounds ever this season,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “We set goals before the season and we saw a lot of potential in our kids, but when we were 5-8 after the Christmas tournament, we took all of those goals off the table and we asked our kids what kind of team we wanted to be. We started sharing the ball more and we started playing as a team after the new year. Our kids never looked back and they truly bought in to what we asked from them. They truly became a family this year.”

Junior forward Raul Aguirre fueled the Rochelle offense in the first quarter, using his 6-foot-5 frame to back down for two low-post baskets and a free throw for the team’s first five points of the evening. But the Hubs (22-11, 11-3 Interstate 8) had issues with Metamora’s physical and athletic man-to-man defense, with the Redbirds forcing several turnovers and awkward misses around the basket. Metamora (27-6, 13-1 Mid-Illini) led 16-9 after the first quarter before ballooning their lead to double figures in the second quarter.

“We knew their defense could be a problem for us,” Thompson said. “We can’t mimic their defense. It’s an old-school, man-to-man defense where they don’t switch anything and they fight through every screen. We couldn’t get any dribble penetration and we had trouble with our hand-off action. Once they had the lead, they were able to stretch us out and on a big court, it made things tough for our kids to move their feet.”

Metamora showcased its balance on offense in the second quarter, with guards Drew Tucker and Zack Schroeder consistently winning one-on-one defensive matchups, allowing the Redbirds to knock down wide open 3-pointers from the corners or finish athletic takes to the basket. Junior David Gerber and senior Noah Brown each hit triples for Rochelle’s lone two field goals in the second quarter, where Metamora took a 31-15 lead at halftime before blowing the game open during the second half to seal the semifinal victory.

“We weren’t able to get into transition and they really focused on keeping Noah and Ryan [Simmons] off the 3-point line,” Thompson said. “When we scored the first bucket, I thought we had something because we could throw the ball inside. But their ability to spread the floor and force us to play one-on-one defense… We weren’t good enough in our man-to-man and they had solid action off their dribble penetration. They made wide open looks and it was a very physical game. We couldn’t change our style of play in two days.”

Kizer swished two 3-pointers and finished an emphatic alley-oop in the fourth quarter for the Redbirds, who led 53-26 after the third quarter. Tyson Swanson totaled 14 points for the Metamora offense, while Schroeder scored 13 points and Tucker added 11 points. Senior Adam Kemp led the Hubs with 12 points and three triples made in the game, with Aguirre scoring nine points.