SOUTH BELOIT — There’s no doubt anymore. South Beloit is the real deal.
The Sobos remained unbeaten with a convincing 72-52 win against Polo Saturday at South Beloit’s Martin Luther King Tournament.
Polo (13-3) was one of the area’s top preseason picks and reached the finals of the Forreston Holiday Tournament last month. But the Marcos couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced Sobos (16-0), who forced seven turnovers in the deciding third quarter while also hitting 11 3-pointers in the game.
“It was a big test for us,” South Beloit coach Mat Parker said. “They’re ranked 13th in the state coming in, and they just had a big win against Milledgeville Friday night.”
South Beloit started slow, going just 1 for 13 in first-quarter 3-pointers. But the Sobos’ first 3-pointer from Antonio Little with 23 seconds left in the first quarter served as a spark. After leading 16-10 at the end of the first, South Beloit led 35-27 at halftime after Little drained four more treys in the second.
The Sobos opened the second half with a 21-5 run to take a commanding lead. Denzel Woods scored 10 points in the third quarter, and South Beloit led 59-38 heading into the fourth.
“At halftime we were a little frustrated with the foul difference,” said Parker, who had several players in foul trouble by halftime. “I just talked to them about perspective. We had an eight-point lead, and we had a whole other half. We were doing everything right, so we knew at some point we were going to have our run. I felt like they came out relaxed after that and did everything we wanted them to do and broke the game open.”
Little finished with six 3-pointers and 25 points and also had nine rebounds and five assists. Denzel Woods had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Katonka Friar chipped in 11 points.
The Sobos were without starter Steven Counts against Polo after the senior suffered a minor injury to his ankle in their first game of the day against Mooseheart.
“That’s one of the things that impressed me the most about our kids is how they handled themselves after losing (Counts),” Parker said.
The six-team tournament resumes Monday. Dakota (6-5) was the only other team to finish 2-0 on the first day.
Dakota 38, Mooseheart 28: Sophomore Kyle Benning led the Indians with 13 points. Dakota led 25-14 at halftime.
Alden-Hebron 58, Keith 42: Jason Jennings and Marlon Dixon scored 15 and 10 points for Keith, respectively. Zak Engelbrecht had a team-high 15 points for Alden-Hebron.
South Beloit 70, Mooseheart 59: After being tied at 33 apiece at halftime, South Beloit won its first game of the day with a 19-10 fourth-quarter run. Denzel Woods (20 points), Antonio Little (16), Katonka Friar (12) and Matt Ennis (11) scored in double figures for the Sobos. Munir Smith had 24 points for Mooseheart.
Polo 72, Alden-Hebron 48: The Marcos led early thanks to their 18-6 first-quarter run. Matt VanOosten and Matt Scholl had 23 points apiece for Polo.
Dakota 48, Keith 29: Kyle Benning scored all of his team-high 24 points in the last three quarters. Austin Oberbruner chipped in 10 points for the Indians, while Dan Stephenson led Keith with 14.
- Emily Tropp, rrstar.com
