Belvidere North 53, Belvidere 46: The red blood stain on the front of Dominique Hall’s white number 23 jersey was all the proof one needed to see how physical Belvidere North and Belvidere played each other Friday night.
The North senior forward suffered a bloody nose late in the second quarter, when he took an elbow to the face. Hall started the second half wearing a fresh number 23 jersey with cotton stuffed in his nostril.
That was the kind of effort North needed to pull out a 53-46 win over the crosstown rival Bucs in the Belvidere regional championship. The win, in front of a packed crowd in Belvidere’s gymnasium, secured the first regional title for North. “This was our one goal we had all year,” said guard Tyler Nelson.
“This means the world to our program,” said North coach Darrin Sisk. “It’s going to make it easier for us to get kids excited about playing basketball.”
North’s Jack Adams led all scorers with 16 points, while teammate Kyle Dovenmuehle added 11.
Both teams appeared tight in the first half, as Belvidere took a one-point lead into the break, 19-18. “It’s a regional championship game, the kids had never been here before,” Sisk said.
North (15-12) came out firing in the third quarter, outscoring Belvidere 21-8. The Thunder played suffocating defense, causing several Belvidere turnovers. Ryan Golubski came off the bench for North and provided a spark, scoring five straight points to give the Thunder a 39-27 lead heading into the fourth.
“Definitely it was our defense,” Adams said. “We were playing on the ball, right up in their face. Through our defense, we were getting points.”
But Belvidere (10-18) refused to go away. David Delacy scored eight of his team-high 13 points in the quarter, and the Bucs cut the North lead to 47-44 with two minutes left. Belvidere, however, missed six of seven free throw attempts in the quarter and could draw no closer. “Free throws really hurt us a lot,” Belvidere coach Aaron Pearson said.
Tyler Barr (12) and Austin Burns (10) also reached double figures for Belvidere. North outrebounded Belvidere 32-24 thanks to Hall, who grabbed 10.
- Paul Anthony Arco, rrstar.com
