ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Lady Hubs played tough zone defense to slow down the Sterling Golden Warriors during the opening quarter of their varsity basketball matchup Tuesday night.

Although Sterling took the early lead, Rochelle made scoring points difficult for the Golden Warriors, who struggled to sink shots from the perimeter and failed to get the ball inside to their 6-foot-3 center Madison Austin, who was limited to just two first-quarter points. Deflections and turnovers were crucial for the Lady Hubs, who only trailed 13-9 entering the second quarter.

Sterling eventually got warm from the outside, however, as both Jaelynn James and Joslynn James buried a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a 28-point second quarter for the Golden Warriors, who took a 41-20 halftime lead and ultimately cruised for a 61-29 win over the Lady Hubs. Jaelynn and Joslynn combined for 28 points to lead the Sterling offense, while junior guard Carmela Bright totaled a team-high 10 points for Rochelle (5-13, 0-4 Interstate 8) in the loss Tuesday.

“We had really good movement and rotations, especially in the first quarter,” head coach Jon Gehm said. “We got some deflections and that’s the key for us on defense. When we’re playing with active hands and getting deflections, we’re a different team because we have some length. We tend to play with our hands down, but when we have our hands up in those passing lanes, we’re a tough team to score on. We got tired as the game went on and they wore us down.”

Junior guard Rose Luxton gave the Lady Hubs a brief spark in the second quarter, knocking down a pair of catch-and-shoot triples while Bright added a 3-pointer of her own. On the other end, Sterling continued its efforts to move the ball inside to Austin, who managed to draw multiple fouls with her 6-foot-3 frame. With Joslynn and Jaelynn James draining shots from outside and Austin working inside, Sterling managed to build a 21-point halftime lead.

“Rose has stepped for us over the last couple of games,” Gehm said. “She’s made some shots for us and she’s played with good defensive energy. She’s in good positions on defense and she brings a bit of spark to our offense. I’m really happy with her effort and her confidence.”

Rochelle remained committed to its zone defense in the third quarter, but the Lady Hubs were unable to contain Austin, as the Illinois State commit put home three shots and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to run her scoring total up to 18 points. As Sterling wore down Rochelle’s defense, the Lady Hubs also ran out of steam on offense, scoring just nine points over the third and fourth quarters. Rochelle will face LaSalle-Peru on the road Friday evening.

“Sterling is relentless,” Gehm said. “They’re a really good team that will do a lot of damage in February. They move the ball very well on offense and they have shooters from all different angles. They have a 6-foot-3 center down low, which is impressive, and their man-to-man defensive pressure in the full court is really tough to score on. We had some problems getting the ball across half court at times and their second effort on defense was also really good.”