Kaneland guard Kelsey Modaff scored as many first-half points as the Lady Hubs when the Knights and Rochelle met for their Interstate 8 Conference showdown Thursday.
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ROCHELLE — Kaneland guard Kelsey Modaff scored as many first-half points as the Lady Hubs when the Knights and Rochelle met for their Interstate 8 Conference showdown Thursday.
Modaff drilled three triples in the first quarter, leading Kaneland with 16 points in the first half and 23 for the game as the Knights cruised over Rochelle 60-35 and dropped the Lady Hubs to 3-20 overall. Modaff ended the game with a team-high five 3-pointers.
“She’s able to shoot the ball from as much as 25 feet away from the basket,” head coach Tony Rowan said. “With how athletic she is, when she can hit shots from that far out, it creates a lot of disturbances for our defense. Even when we tried pressuring her, she was able to cut through the back door for layups. She’s a very good player and she’s going to make shots.”
Kaneland thrived on the deep ball during Thursday’s game, as Modaff and the Knights knocked down seven 3-pointers in the first half while the Lady Hubs failed to convert a single 3-point shot during the game. Kaneland held Rochelle to only 13 points in the first matchup between the two teams this season, and the Knights were stout on defense once again, leading the Lady Hubs 19-8 after the first quarter and 33-16 at halftime.
“When teams are able to make some 3-pointers against us, it’s mainly because we have slow rotations on defense,” Rowan said. “We were watching the ball as opposed to reacting to the ball and that’s not how we want to play. When we give good teams open shots, good shooters will be surprised when they miss, and their shooters were on tonight.”
The Lady Hubs found some success in transition during the third quarter, using long inbounds passes to get behind the Kaneland defense and score easy layups under the basket. But without an ability to sink 3-pointers, the early hole was difficult to climb, and the Knights managed to stretch their lead to 49-24 before playing the entire fourth quarter with Modaff on the bench. Junior guard Sam House led Rochelle with 10 points on five made field goals in the loss.
“Sam was aggressive with her shot and she was aggressive off the dribble,” Rowan said. “She was jumping for rebounds on defense and getting into passing lanes. She’s really come a long way this season and we’re only hoping she’s going to get better.”
