Oswego 60, Belvidere North 39: Belvidere North noticed the mismatches during warmups.

“They’re bigger, stronger, faster, and we knew that right away,” North coach Darrin Sisk said after his team’s loss 60-39 loss to Oswego on Wednesday.

“Just shaking hands with them before the game, I’m looking up to all of them except (one). Anytime you see they have a legitimate 6-4 point guard, you know you’re in trouble.”

North’s season ended in the semifinals of the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional. Oswego (23-6) will play Rochelle (14-16) at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the title.

The Blue Thunder struggled against Oswego’s size. The Panthers’ starting lineup has four 6-foot-4 players and the fifth at 6-2.

“We’ve played against bigger players before, just not so many on the same team,” North senior Ryan Golubski said.

Oswego had a 13-7 lead after the first quarter and then opened the second with an 11-2 run. Part of North’s trouble early was leader Jack Adams sitting on the bench with two fouls for most of the first quarter.

“Obviously that hurt a lot,” Sisk said. “That puts us in a little hole, and then we obviously weren’t shooting the ball well.”
North finished the game 15 for 44 in field goals and hit just one 3-pointer in 12 tries.

The loss means North will settle for its first regional title in the two-year program’s history only.

Adams led the Blue Thunder with 16 points and six rebounds, while Dominique Hall was the next highest scorer with seven points. Jordan Mitchell was the leading scorer for Oswego with 22 points.

“It’s definitely been a good season for us,” said Adams, who led North with 16 points and six rebounds. “But it’s still tough to go out tonight.”

- Emily Tropp, rrstar.com