ROCHELLE — Senior guard Carson Lewis kept a shooter’s mentality despite seeing some unfortunate bounces off the rim Friday evening, when the Rochelle Hubs celebrated Senior Night before taking on the LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers in an Interstate 8 Conference matchup.

Lewis made one of the biggest shots of the night, draining a 3-pointer from the corner to give Rochelle a slim lead during the final minute of the fourth quarter. The senior made multiple big plays down the stretch, delivering a pair of clutch assists in the final minute that allowed the Hubs to finish the game on a 9-4 run and beat the Cavaliers 78-73. It’s the second Interstate 8 victory of the season for the Hubs (9-18, 2-7 Interstate 8) who will host Rock Falls on Saturday.

“It feels good to come out on top for once,” said Lewis, who scored 15 points in the win over LaSalle-Peru. “We didn’t have a lot of energy in the first half, but we played with a lot more energy late in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter. Coach [Thompson] told us during halftime that we needed to play with more energy… I knew one of those shots would go down because a lot of my misses were in and out. I kept shooting knowing the next shot would go in.”

Junior guard Van Gerber buried three first-half triples and totaled 13 points in the game for the Hubs, who faced a slight deficit throughout the first two quarters. Despite LaSalle-Peru gaining the early lead, the Cavaliers were unable to create much separation, as the Cavaliers struggled to contain Rochelle forward Brody Bruns. The 6-foot-5 sophomore Bruns had his low-post offense working early, using his left hand and good footwork to hit four first-half field goals.

Trailing 35-32 entering the third quarter, Rochelle opened the second half on a 12-2 run, taking a seven-point lead after a 3-pointer from senior guard Elijah Harley and a pair of fast break layups off turnovers. A quick timeout allowed LaSalle-Peru to reset and respond with a 7-0 run led by guard Mikey Hartman, who drilled a key triple to help the Cavaliers tie the game at 44-44.

The Hubs were unfazed, however, as Bruns took over the game on offense with a dominant display in the low post. LaSalle-Peru had no answer for Bruns or his left hand, as the talented sophomore scored 17 third-quarter points on eight field goals, including one mid-range jumper, to help Rochelle take a 59-54 lead into the fourth quarter. Bruns scored 33 points in the game.

“We wanted to go out and help our seniors win one of the last home games on our schedule,” Bruns said. “My teammates knew that I was able to score down there and they kept feeding me the ball. I have to give my teammates the credit for passing me the ball. Coach [Thompson] said that we were lacking energy in the first half and we needed to get the ball down low because that’s where we were scoring most of our points. We executed that in the second half.”

A valiant effort from LaSalle-Peru’s Nick Olivero, who scored nine of his 16 points in the game during the fourth quarter, enabled the Cavaliers to rally back and tie the score at 69-69 with roughly two minutes remaining. Rochelle’s senior delivered clutch plays down the stretch, though, as Lewis rained down a triple from the corner before delivering a line-drive pass to a cutting Harley for a layup and a foul that drew a roar of applause from the Senior Night crowd.

“It’s a big confidence boost for us because L-P is a good team,” Lewis said. “We know we’re going to have to beat some good teams in the regional if we want to win a regional title.”

Lewis also sank two free throws in the final seconds for the Hubs, who have one week left in the regular season before beginning the IHSA 3A Freeport Regional with their semifinal matchup on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Harley finished with nine points for the Hubs, who drew the No. 5 seed in the regional and will face No. 3 seed Woodstock in the semifinal round. Rochelle defeated Woodstock in last year’s regional tournament, which was held at Rockford Boylan.

Prior to the game, Rochelle honored its four senior boys basketball players Carson Lewis, Elijah Harley, Jack Tilton and Krew Sullivan in a pregame ceremony. Rochelle also honored senior dancers Damaris Macias and Julia Livingston as well as senior cheer team members Marianna Saldana, Naleia Fonfara, Jocelyn Cervantes, Trent Kreider, Abbey Jarvis, Jasmynn Lipscomb and Bryn Kissack. The senior band members honored were Julissa Torres, Emma Kennay, Noah LeFevre, Lucas Smardo, Drake Ramos, Makayla Ludwig and Allison Drobick.