The Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team overcame its recent struggles on the defensive end during Saturday evening’s Interstate 8 Conference matchup against Ottawa.
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ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Hub varsity basketball team overcame its recent struggles on the defensive end during Saturday evening’s Interstate 8 Conference matchup against Ottawa.
While the Hubs faced a halftime deficit, Rochelle limited the Pirates to 27 second-half points and received an offensive outburst from junior guard Carson Lewis, who scored a game-high 26 points and drained five 3-pointers as the Hubs rallied for an 80-70 win. Rochelle (10-15, 3-5 Interstate 8) overcame a tough second quarter, where Ottawa outscored the Hubs 22-9 to take a 43-34 halftime lead. Rochelle forced 16 turnovers and scored 26 transition points in the win.
“I thought Carson had some trouble getting his legs underneath him earlier in the season, but he’s been getting to his spots and having good balance over the second half of the year,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “He shot the ball fantastically against both Ottawa. We’ve been really encouraged and we just need to make sure that he’s shooting shots where he’s getting his feet set. If we can keep getting him to move, we feel that he can knock down a bunch.”
Five Rochelle players reached double figures in the game, which the Hubs flipped after a strong performance in the third quarter, where the Hubs outscored the Pirates 23-11. Junior guard Cayden Moore finished with 14 points and two rebounds, while freshman forward Brody Bruns added 12 points and seven rebounds in the game. Junior guard Elijah Harley recorded 12 points and five assists, with senior guard Eli Luxton adding 10 points, five assists and three blocks.
“We’ve really struggled to stop teams and play good, solid defense,” Thompson said. “Ottawa was out to a good, quick start and we didn’t make a tremendous amount of adjustments during the second half, but we started making shots and when our guys make shots, they feel good about themselves and they were locked in on the defensive end. I thought Van [Gerber] did a great job of guarding and we got rebounds and pushed the tempo. It was a big win for us.”
Sophomore guard Van Gerber chipped in six points and three steals for the Hubs, who scored 19 points off turnovers and dished out 19 assists as a team. Saturday’s win extended Rochelle’s Interstate 8 winning streak to three games and the Hubs have not lost a conference game since the start of the year, having beaten Sycamore 73-50 and Morris 73-57 earlier this month.
Rochelle drilled 11 3-pointers and shot nearly 50 percent from the field during Saturday’s victory over the Pirates. In addition to the first-half deficit, Rochelle also overcame a disadvantage in the rebounding category, where Ottawa outpaced the Hubs 35-25. Despite the Pirates scoring 48 points in the paint, Ottawa missed six free throws and was only 4-for-14 from 3-point range.
