GENOA — Rochelle head coach Tony Rowan felt that it was like night and day when he compared the girls basketball team’s loss against Plano on Thursday to the come-from-behind victory over Genoa-Kingston on Saturday.

Sophomore Josie Lundquist reached double figures in points for the third time over the team’s last four games, totaling 16 as Rochelle erased a three-point halftime deficit to beat the Cogs by a score of 46-37 and snap a two-game losing streak. The Lady Hubs reached 3-9 overall.

“We were able to get stops defensively and we pushed the ball down the floor,” Rowan said. “We knocked down our open jumpers and we really stretched their defense by spacing the floor well. Jordin [Dickey] knocked down a few key shots and free throws for us, and Josie made six free throws down the stretch, which was huge for us.”

Rochelle controlled the glass throughout the game, outrebounding Genoa-Kingston 17-12. The Lady Hubs built a 15-9 lead after the first quarter, but a strong performance from the Cogs in the second quarter allowed Genoa-Kingston to surge back and emerge up 24-21 at halftime. With junior Afi Gati out of the lineup with an injury, Rochelle looked to junior Sam House for offense, and House stepped up with a season-best 10 points and five rebounds on Saturday.

“Sam played really well in the Plano game after Afi went out,” Rowan said. “Getting these extra minutes will really benefit her. She’s really aggressive with the basketball, whether it’s taking good shots or rolling to the basket in our wing-motion offense. She was hitting layups, and defensively, she was doing a better job of moving her feet and getting into position.”

Leading 30-28 after the third quarter, the Lady Hubs put the victory away with a solid fourth quarter, outscoring the Cogs 16-9. Rochelle notched seven steals in the game, and the girls committed only four turnovers. Sophomore Jordin Dickey and junior Sofia Lenkaitis each finished with seven points, while sophomore Lucy Bunger added four points.

Plano

Rochelle faced Plano in an Interstate 8 Conference game Thursday evening, with the Reapers emerging victorious in a low-scoring defensive battle by a score of 39-29. Josie Lundquist led Rochelle with 13 points while Afi Gati recorded a season-best 12 points and seven rebounds.

“Afi was really aggressive with the ball,” Rowan said. “She scored a lot of her points on second-chance opportunities. Unfortunately, she hurt her head in the fourth quarter, and she’s going to be limited for us moving forward. Josie continued to do a good job, and she’s put a lot of extra time in to work on her shot and become a vocal leader for us.”

The Lady Hubs managed only nine points in the first half, with three of those coming in the first quarter. Rochelle shot 22 percent from the field in the game, but Plano was slightly worse, shooting 20.4 percent while going 2-for-12 from the 3-point line. The Reapers did enough to maintain a 15-9 lead at halftime.

“We didn’t really gel throughout the game,” Rowan said. “We had close to 35 turnovers and we weren’t reading and reacting to each other very well. We didn’t space out the floor and that constricted us on the offensive side. Usually we’re in a position to win when we allow fewer than 40 points per game, but that didn’t happen on Thursday.”