SYCAMORE — The Rochelle Hubs struggled with turnovers and stopping Sycamore’s Isaiah Feuerbach during their Interstate 8 varsity basketball game against the Spartans on Friday.

Junior Van Gerber fueled the Rochelle offense in the first half, drilling a pair of 3-pointers and putting home two layups to help the Hubs keep pace with the Spartans. Defensively, Rochelle managed to slow down Sycamore in the half-court setting, limiting the Spartans to a 32-29 lead at halftime. But a disastrous third quarter doomed the Hubs, who allowed 33 points, including 14 to Feuerbach, during the period to fall out of contention and ultimately lose the game 72-56.

“I think Van gets to his spots and he’s a really good shooter,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “He put a lot of time in over the offseason and he’s been getting better around the rim. We’re trying to develop him into a true point guard who can get us into our offense and make the right decision at all places. We’re really on him quite a bit and his shot is in a good place right now.”

The Hubs kept Sycamore off balance with a mixture of defensive schemes during the first half. On the offensive end, Rochelle maintained its balance, with multiple players contributing to keep the team in the game. Junior Brode Metzger knocked down a key 3-pointer from the elbow early in the first quarter, while senior Carson Lewis drained a long 3-pointer of his own in the second quarter, where sophomore forward Brody Bruns sank a pair of mid-range jump shots.

“We needed to switch a bunch of defenses and get a lead,” Thompson said. “We tried to confuse them at times and Sycamore had three games this week, so they looked a little flat to start. I thought that switching the defenses helped and we had a little bit of a lead in the third quarter, but then everything fell apart. We were taking bad shots and they were getting runouts. We aren’t a good defensive team yet, so we don’t know how to withstand those little runs.”

Gerber finished with 13 points for the Hubs (0-4, 0-1 Interstate 8), who fell apart in the third quarter largely because of turnovers, as errant passes and poor ball handling enabled Sycamore to take the ball on the fast break and convert easy layups at the basket. While the Spartans flustered Rochelle with their zone press, Feuerbach singlehandedly took over the game on offense, sinking six third-quarter field goals including back-to-back 3-pointers.

“They came out with a zone press and we had a couple of turnovers early in the third quarter,” Thompson said. “We were throwing balls deep and not hitting people in the chest, which allowed them to get 2-on-1 opportunities and finish all of the time. We’ve been atrocious at guarding out-of-bounds plays under the opponent’s basket and they seem to get every shot they want because we aren’t guarding. When people start making layups, they start gaining confidence.”

Lewis finished with 14 points and Bruns totaled eight points for the Hubs, who will be back in action with a nonconference road game against Dixon at 7 p.m. on Monday evening. The junior guard Feuerbach led all scorers with 25 points including 19 points in the second half.