Winnebago 58, Rockford Lutheran 38: The Indians turned a full-court, back-and-forth battle in Friday’s Class 2A Plano Sectional championship game into a blowout, and the Crusaders never saw it coming.
Winnebago (30-0), up just 26-25 at halftime, wore down Rockford Lutheran (19-9), worked itself into position with an 11-2 third-quarter run, and pulled away for a 58-38 win. The Indians earned their third sectional title — but their first since 2006 — and posted their third
Rockford Lutheran 39, Elgin St. Edwards 35: Lutheran coach Devin Smith had a couple of close shaves Wednesday at the Plano Sectional semifinals.
His Crusaders edged Elgin St. Edwards 39-35, despite a dismal performance at the free throw line, and will meet Winnebago in the Plano Sectional final on Friday.
The coach also made good on a promise after the game, allowing his players to shave his head. He told them he would part with his hair if they reached the sectional final.
Rockford Lutheran 44, Rockford Christian 42: Justin Miller couldn’t turn in any direction without a Lutheran fan hugging him Friday.
“This is the most hugs I’ve ever gotten in my life,” said Miller, who tossed in a shot just before the final buzzer to lift Lutheran to a 44-42 regional final victory over Rockford Christian.
Lutheran advances to play Elgin St. Edward in the sectional semifinals Wednesday at Plano.
After building a 22-19 halftime lead, Rockford Christian pulled ahead by 10 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.
Lutheran 55, Christian Life 29: A pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter by Eric Widstrom sparked the Crusaders. Lutheran used a 16-8 second-quarter run to take a 25-12 halftime lead. Widstrom finished with 11 points, while Jordan Peyton scored 11 for the Eagles.
- Emily Tropp, rrstar.com
Lutheran 48, Byron 38: Lutheran held Byron to a season-low 38 points while getting 12 points from Eric Widstrom.
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East 82, Lutheran 78, 2OT: ROCKFORD — D’Wan Horton lit up for 39 points to lead East to an 82-78 double overtime win Tuesday against Lutheran.
Horton scored 33 of his points in the second half and overtime after the teams were tied 26-26 at halftime. Caleb Cooper had three 3-pointers and 10 points for the E-Rabs (3-21, 0-13 NIC-10). Delorian Williams and Deontray Austin added 12 and 10, respectively.
Eric Widstrom (18 points), Nathan Green (17), Taylor Dixon (13) and Andrew Wieting (10) scored in double figures for Lutheran (14-8, 5-4 Big Northern West).
Peru St. Bede 54, Lutheran 39: First, Laura Rushing started scoring. Then Dawn Martin, rallying Lutheran to an eight-point second-half lead.
And then the Crusaders stopped. Just stopped.
“It’s heartbreaking for these seniors to have the season they had and come this far and kind of crumble when it came down to it,” coach Joni Carlson said Tuesday after Lutheran’s 54-39 loss to 10th-ranked Peru St. Bede in a Class 2A girls basketball sectional semifinal.
Genoa-Kingston 49, Lutheran 46: Ryan Muir had 20 points and Scott Suchy 18 for the Cogs. Nathan Green led Lutheran with 11.
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After being swept in the regular season by Stillman Valley and trailing 25-14 in the third quarter of the 2A regional championship, it was beginning to look like that Rockford Lutheran’s Big Northern West title may have been a fluke.
That’s when sophomore Callie Rezin started a rally that Laura Rushing and Dawn Martin continued and Heather Baier capped off for a 46-42 Crusader win.
“This is important,” Lutheran coach Joni Carlson said. “It validates our conference championship.”
Lutheran 58, Christian Life 32: Balanced scoring paced the Crusaders’ victory led by Jimmy Clark’s nine points. Jordan Peyton scored a game-high 17 points for the Eagles.
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Rockford Lutheran 46, Oregon 34: Lutheran jumped to a 9-0 lead in the first 67 seconds of Tuesday’s 46-34 Class 2A girls basketball regional semifinal victory over Oregon.
“It could have been a totally different ballgame without that,” Lutheran’s Dawn Martin (11 points) said. “They play great defense. It’s hard to get good shots off against their 2-3 zone.”
Lutheran (21-6) rediscovered that quickly, shooting 1-for-19 the next 12 minutes.
“We knew our defense had to get a lot stronger if we wanted to win,” Oregon guard Carissa Oelke said.
Winnebago 59, Rockford Lutheran 52: Finally, after 22 fairly easy wins, Winnebago had a close game Saturday.
With the conference title on the line, the Indians were up for the test.
Winnebago had its closest game of the season as it hung on to beat Lutheran 59-52. The Indians improved to 23-0 and clinched the outright Big Northern West title.
“It was good experience for us, because we had never really had a close game,” Winnebago junior Brad Reinke said.
“It’s definitely been exciting. We knew we’d have a good year, but we’re exceeding all our expectations.”
Oregon 50, Rockford Lutheran 40: This was supposed to be a showdown for the Big Northern West title. But then Lutheran destroyed Oregon by 33 points, starting a five-game Oregon losing streak, three without injured star Carissa Oelke.
But just when Oregon looked dead, the Hawks rebounded in stunning fashion to shock Lutheran 50-40 Thursday and prevent the Crusaders from clinching a share of their first BNC title.
Lutheran (19-6, 6-3) is now tied with Stillman Valley (13-8, 6-3) with one game left. Lutheran plays at Byron (4-5) today while Stillman hosts Genoa-Kingston (1-8).
Lutheran 60, Oregon 55: Lutheran rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to overcome Oregon down the stretch. Oregon’s Ryan Rosenbalm scored 23 points in the loss, while Lutheran was led by Taylor Dixon and Jimmy Clark, who each scored 11.
Stillman Valley 63, Rockford Lutheran 60: Shay Bubnack scored 19 points Friday night to help Stillman Valley to a 63-60 overtime upset of Big Northern West second-place Rockford Lutheran.
The Cardinals (4-15, 1-5) have now won two games in a row after ending a nine-game losing streak. But they’ve also given undefeated Winnebago, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, it’s closest game, losing by eight points to the Indians.
Stillman Valley equalized the Big Northern West girls basketball race.
Lutheran has been playing the un-equalizer ever since.
The Crusaders jumped to a huge early lead Tuesday in a 55-45 victory at Winnebago that tied them with Stillman for the BNC West lead.
Since losing their second close game to Stillman Valley two weeks ago, Lutheran (18-5, 5-2) has won three games by a combined 71 points.
That includes jumping to a 27-4 lead against Oregon (14-8, 4-2) and 32-9 against Winnebago (14-8, 4-4) their last two games.
ROCKFORD — Only one Byron player had more than one basket until the final two minutes. Only one Lutheran player finished with more than two.
“We’re teams that focus so predominantly on half-court defense, when we get together, it’s like we set basketball back 50 years,” Lutheran coach Devin Smith said.
And that’s fine with Smith. Especially when his Crusaders take an early lead. Byron never got closer than six points after the first period as Lutheran led wire-to-wire in a 45-33 boys basketball victory Saturday night that moved the Crusaders into second place in the Big Northern West.
Lutheran coach Devin Smith said the biggest barrier for his team lately is shooting.
“We just haven’t been shooting the ball very well lately,” Smith said. “I’m not sure how we keep winning.”
The answer is good defense. That’s what worked for the Crusaders in overtime Thursday at Rockford Christian.
Lutheran beat the Royals 56-50 by forcing three Rockford Christian turnovers and holding its 6-foot-8 center scoreless in the extra period. The nonconference game will have postseason seeding implications, as the teams will likely compete in the same Class 2A regional next month.
GENOA — Rockford Lutheran senior Jacob Koehler has made the kind of improvements that his coach Devin Smith knew would make him into a formidable force on the basketball court.
Koehler, a 6-foot-2 forward, proved his worth down the stretch against Genoa-Kingston on Friday when he hit 3-of-4 free throws to help Lutheran win 46-39 in Big Northern West Conference action.
Senior guard Eric Widstrom led the Crusaders with 11 points, while Koehler had eight.
ROCKFORD — Call it Costco basketball; Lutheran wins in bulk.
The Crusaders came at Byron in waves, throwing up 25 shots in the first quarter alone, in Tuesday’s 61-30 Big Northern West girls basketball victory over Byron.
Lutheran led 37-22 at halftime, with the Crusaders attempting 42 shots to Byron’s 17.
“If we have anything less than 70 shots a game, that’s a failure to us,” Lutheran coach Joni Carlson said. “We try to get as many shots up at the basket as we can. That’s one thing the girls will never get yelled at for doing is shooting the basketball.
ROCKFORD — Cassie Glendenning couldn’t do it by herself. But once Val McKnight and Stillman Valley’s press kicked into gear, Lutheran’s undefeated days were over.
Glendenning scored a career-high 30 points and McKnight added 17, all in the final 20 minutes, to help the Cardinals rally from 10 points down in the second half and knock off the Crusaders 63-52 Friday.
The loss by Lutheran (8-1, 0-1 Big Northern West) leaves Dakota and Oregon as the area’s only unbeaten girls basketball teams.
FREEPORT — Suporia Dickens scored 15 points to lead Freeport to a 70-49 home win against Guilford Wednesday. Katie Norman and Courtney Shiffer added 12 points apiece, while Kelsey Hoefer chipped in 11. Tiffany Martinez (10) and Stephanie House (10) led the Vikings.
Auburn 51, Belvidere North 47: Led by Atiya Roby (14), Anita Amisi (12) and Tierny Austin (12), Auburn held off Belvidere North. Jillian Leutscher led North with 9 points.
Winnebago wins pool at E.C. Nichols Tournament
MARENGO — Winnebago won its pool at the E.C. Nichols Holiday Tournament Tuesday with a 54-41 win against Hampshire.
Chas Cross scored 19 points for Winnebago, which will play two games Saturday. The Indians are trying to win their fifth straight championship.
Elgin Tournament
ELGIN — Palatine Fremd knocked Auburn out of the championship bracket with a 46-38 win.
It was the second day in a row that Fremd (2-7) pulled an upset in the tournament thanks to its defense. Fremd beat Batavia 57-28 Monday. Auburn dropped to 7-2.
POPLAR GROVE — North Boone basketball coach Lennie Doetch put his depth to the test Friday in the Vikings’ 41-35 win over Rockford Lutheran.
Doetch played both his starting five and his second string effectively throughout, which powered North Boone to the home win.
“Our second string came in and held it down,” said Vikings starter Tyler Bielski, who had eight points. “That helped in our win.”
MUNDELEIN — Four players scored in double figures to lead Jefferson to a 61-47 win over Maine West at the Mundelein Holiday Tournament Monday.
Thaddeus Perry led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Mario Manns followed with 12 points, while Jordan Kerley and Mershon Wilkes each added 10 points.
ROCKFORD - After Lutheran jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, Winnebago scored 22 unanswered points to finish 3-6 on the season.
Jake Koehler’s 8-yard run started the scoring for the Crusaders.
Winnebago scored on two Michael Sojka runs (60 and 7 yards) and a 66-yard run by Kevin Shaw. Sojka finished with 102 yards on 13 carries.
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ROCKFORD - Lutheran quarterback Jake Koehler went 11-of-20 for 189 yards, but the Tigers outrushed Lutheran 453-35 and took out Lutheran in the process, 42-12.
Kyle Smith led Byron with 273 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, and Andrew Clark also had two rushing touchdowns.
Stephen Baxter and Earl Grigsby had Lutheran’s two TD receptions of 46 and 30 yards, respectively.
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GENOA - Chris Wilkins completed 7-of-9 for 247 yards and two touchdowns for the Cogs, who beat Lutheran 42-14.
T.C. Holterhaus had five catches for 160 yards. Robby Thurlby led G-K on the ground with 83 yards on 14 rushes.
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STILLMAN VALLEY - Six different players scored touchdowns for the Cardinals (5-0). Shay Bubnack started the game with a 40-yard interception return. He added five extra-point kicks.
Brandon Schwengels (50 run, 57 run) and Alex Cox (50 run, 49 run) scored twice, and Cody Brewington (43 run), Keegan Myrvold (1 run) and Tyler Larson (100-yard interception return) also scored.
Schwengels (4 carries, 155 yards), Alex Cox (6-127) and Shawn Cox (5-88) were Stillman Valley’s leading rushers. Jake Koehlere had 228 yards passing for Lutheran and scored on a 7-yard run.
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HARVARD — Harvard (2-2) evened its record with a big night from Dustin Binz (199 yards, two touchdowns, 31 carries).
Lutheran quarterback Jake Koehler had 181 yards on an 18-of-38 night, but the Hornets didn’t allow the Crusaders much on the ground.
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RACINE, Wis. — Eric Oertel came through with another dominant performance to lead Racine Lutheran to a 49-7 victory. The senior running back rushed for 177 yards and five touchdowns on 19 carries Racince (2-0).
In two games this season, Oertel has rushed for 335 yards and seven touchdowns.
“He had a heck of a night,” Racine offensive coordinator Gino Perfetto said. “We played really well up front. The offensive line did a good job”
ROCKFORD - Friday’s steady rain all but washed out the expected offensive fireworks in North Boone’s 14-8 victory over Rockford Lutheran.
The game featured two of the area top quarterbacks, but North Boone’s Alex Albrecht and Lutheran’s Jake Koehler had trouble passing the wet ball, especially during a second-half downpour.
“It was terrible,” Albrecht said of the conditions.
He completed 12-of-22 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown, while Koehler threw for 84 yards, hitting 10 of 17 attempts. They each had two interceptions.
Lutheran and North Boone have a mutual respect for each other that they don’t find on most of the other Big Northern Conference football fields.
That’s because each knows exactly what the other is going through.
“I think the kids enjoy when we play (North Boone) because it’s kind of a measuring stick for the two newest teams in the conference,” Lutheran athletic director Devin Smith said.
ROCKFORD — Moments into the second half, Christian Life had run 20 more plays from scrimmage than Rockford Lutheran and had outgained the Crusaders 184 yards to 153.
Still, the Eagles trailed 27-6 at the time and would never recover in a 40-14 loss.
“In the first quarter, we only had three plays,” Lutheran coach Brian Kube said. “I’ve never had that happen in my career.”
The difference was Lutheran’s ability to make big plays and capitalize on Christian Life’s errors. Two of the biggest plays were kickoff returns for touchdowns by Jonata Pike.
