Sterling 58, Rochelle 47: Rochelle finally stopped Sterling’s center, but the subs got the Hubs.

Sophomore backup guard Lauren Hernandez had eight assists and Kayla Romano scored 10 points in 11 minutes on perfect 4-for-4 shooting to lead No. 2 seed Sterling to a 58-47 victory Wednesday in a Class 3A girls basketball regional semifinal.

“We have a lot of different starters; we believe we are eight or nine deep and on any given night it can be any one of these kids,” coach Julie Schroeder said.

Or any half. Kaitlin Loos, who scored a career-high 20 points in her last game, had 17 in the first half. That should have been enough for a team that has won 20 games nine of the past 10 years to finish off a Rochelle team that lost its best player, 6-foot junior Breanna Newton, to an ACL tear early in the season. But with Newton sitting on the bench with a brace on her right leg from her ankle to her thigh, the Hubs (13-12) fought back.

Katie Schwartz and Olivia Caron each had 11 points, while Alyssa Hurst added 10 and Natalie Meiners eight.

“We started this season as a one- or two-person team, and we ended with five or six girls who could score,” coach Kay Dobbs said. “We made great strides after Breanna went down.”

The Hubs fought back from 25-12 down to lead 40-39 on a Schwartz 3-pointer. But Niki Rivera (15 points) immediately answered with a 3 of her own to put Sterling (21-10) back ahead to stay.

- Matt Trowbridge, rrstar.com