ROCKTON — Even without their scoring and rebounding leader David Brown on the floor for most of the night, Hononegah shook off everything that Belvidere North threw at them during Friday’s 47-30 home win.
Brown, second in the NIC-10 with a 16.5 points-a-game average and the team’s leading rebounder at six rebounds a contest, missed all four of the shots he took Friday, but he didn’t last long. The 6-foot-3 senior twisted his ankle while going to the floor for a loose ball in the second quarter, and played sparingly the rest of the first half. He did not return in the second half and was reportedly on his way to get x-rays after the game.
Even without him, however, the Indians held a double-digit lead the entire fourth quarter and answered the Blue Thunder basket for basket down the stretch.
“They’re awfully good, even without David Brown,” Belvidere North (6-5, 1-3 NIC-10) coach Darrin Sisk said. “Anybody who thinks Hononegah is David Brown and a bunch of nobody’s hasn’t watched them play. They’ve got a lot of good players, and they know how to run their system very well.”
Hononegah (10-2, 3-1) got a 3-pointer from Mario Donaldson five seconds into the game and never trailed. The Blue Thunder shooters missed all 15 of their 3-pointers in the first half, and while Hononegah only shot 29 percent (6-for-21) from the field in the first two quarters, North managed to make just 21 percent (5-for-24) to fall behind 23-16 at the break.
“Their guys are good shooters, we just played great D on them. We challenged every shot,” Hononegah coach Mike Miller said. “I’m very proud of the way our kids handled themselves in this one. We needed some other guys to step up, and they did.”
While only three players scored for North, Hononegah had nine players reach the scoring column, led by Donaldson’s 16-point effort. The 6-foot junior guard was 4-for-7 from the field and 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
His biggest bucket was his only one of the second half when he drained a three from the right wing just after North’s first 3-pointer of the night cut the Indians’ lead to 25-22. The lead would only grown from there.
“The whole team stepped up tonight. We all realized David was hurt, and we knew we had to adjust,” Donaldson said. “And once we had them down, we knew we had to put the game away. We did.”
Last year’s NIC-10 leading scorer Jack Adams of North was held to 13 points and 10 rebounds, eight of which came in the first half.
- Jay Taft, rrstar.com
