Rockford Christian 52, Genoa-Kingston 40: Rockford Christian gained respect and its first ever girls regional finals berth Wednesday.
The Royals, seeded fifth despite its 20-4 record entering the postseason, knocked off top-seed Genoa-Kingston 52-40 in the semifinal.

“We knew we were better than a (No. 5) seed,” said Royals junior Amy Hicks, who scored a game-high 29 points. “So it was really cool to beat the top seed to show everyone.”

With the score tied at 9-all starting the second quarter, Rockford Christian quickly moved ahead 16-9.

It was a lead the Royals never surrendered.

The Cogs closed to within 16-15 late in the half before Hicks scored five points and Holly Williams two for a 23-15 advantage at intermission.

Williams added six points in the third quarter as the Royals went up 33-24.

“We really wanted to put the game away, so we knew we had to pick it up in the second half,” Hicks said.

The Cogs cut the deficit to 33-28 in the first minute of the fourth quarter. However, Hicks stopped the rally with six straight points against the Cogs’ box-and-one defense designed to stop her.

“I told the girls to set picks, get her free and she’ll get the job done,” coach Terry Gulley said.

“And if she couldn’t get the shot off, she is good enough to make the pass.”

Hicks also hit 7 of 9 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Rockford Christian wasn’t at full strength as starting shooting guard Lauren Doherty was ill and missed the game, and starting center Rebecca Johnson played despite a kidney infection.

Johnson finished with five points, nine rebounds and a steal while also anchoring the Royals’ defense.

“My back was hurting, but I knew I had to pick it up for the team,” said Johnson, who earlier in the day received her doctor’s permission to play. “I knew this was an important game and we had to win.

“I wasn’t feeling well and I was getting kneed in the back. But I sucked it up for the team.”

She played all but the final 30 seconds.

“Every time I tried to take her out,” Gulley said, “she would say ‘No.’”

The loss snapped the Cogs’ three-game win streak.

“We didn’t do a very good job of working the ball inside. We didn’t attack the seams,” Cogs coach Todd McDillon said. “They deserved to win; we definitely did not.”

Sophomore center Elizabeth Brown had 15 points and junior guard Molly Meier 14 to lead the Cogs.