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.
Belvidere 68, Woodstock Marian 61 (OT): In regulation, which ended in a 54-54 tie, neither Belvidere nor Woodstock Marian led by more than four points. That all changed in overtime when the Bucs grabbed a 64-56 lead and coasted to a 68-61 win.
“What a great game,” Belvidere coach Aaron Pearson said. “With how even both teams were, I knew it was going to come down to the final couple minutes.”
Andrew Eck, Matt Carroll, Tyler Barr and Patrick Mc-Knight combined to go 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in overtime for the Bucs.
Harlem 82, Belvidere 71: The Huskies’ Chaz Winters scored a season-high 36 points — bringing him to within 33 points of the school record — to lift Harlem over the Bucs. Drazen Savic added 16 points in the win,. Belvidere was led by Andrew Eck who scored 30 in the loss.
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Auburn 62, Belvidere 55: Auburn outscored Belvidere 23-9 in the fourth quarter. Xavier Pittman scored 19 points for the Knights, while Andrew Eck’s 22 led Belvidere.
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Hononegah 68, Belvidere 44: Hononegah clinched the outright NIC-10 conference championship with a 68-44 home win against Belvidere Friday.
Sophomore Andrew Tapley hit six 3-pointers and finished with 21 points for the Indians (23-3, 13-1 NIC-10), who are now three games ahead of second-place Jefferson (20-5, 10-4) and Auburn (16-8, 10-4).
This is the first conference title for the Indians since they shared with Jefferson in 2003-2004. Their last outright title was 1989-90.
Crystal Lake Central 43, Belvidere 31: Crystal Lake Central’s Sam Johnson almost didn’t finish her senior season.
Two weeks ago, Johnson broke two fingers in her right hand during a rebounding drill in practice. The injury was bad enough that she could have opted for surgery, thus ending her final season.
“She had the choice,” Central coach Matt LePage said. “We had a five-game losing streak at the time. She could have shut it down. She said, ‘no, we are going to play for a potential regional crown.’”
Belvidere 57, Belvidere North 45:Lauren Hyser and Kayla Harris have played basketball together since sixth grade.
And it showed Tuesday night in Belvidere’s 57-45 win over Belvidere North in Class 3A regional action. The senior guards combined to score 47 points as the Bucs (9-18) advanced and will play Crystal Lake Central on Thursday for the championship.
Hyser finished with a game-high 26 points, including 16-of-22 from the free throw line. Harris added 21 points, including four 3s.
Belvidere 66, Sycamore 56:: Andrew Eck’s 24 points powered the Bucs to the victory. Tyler Bair and David Delacy each added 12.
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Belvidere North 37, Belvidere 29: Bobbie Johns scored 10 points for North. Lauren Hyser had 10 for the Bucs.
Belvidere North 58, Belvidere 54: Jack Adams scored 15 of his 17 in the second half to lead Belvidere North. Austin Burns scored 17 points for the Bucs while Andrew Eck added 15.
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Auburn 52, Belvidere 46: Kayla Harris and her Belvidere teammates had the Bucs looking good early against Auburn.
But the Knights rallied in the second half for the victory.
Led by Tierry Austin (15 points) and Atiya Roby (10), the Knights outscored the Bucs 28-18 in the second half.
Harris finished with 17 points.
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Boylan 77, Belvidere 49: Brea Edwards had 14 points in the first half as Boylan went up 46-27 at intermission.
Alexa Yerk was Belvidere’s lone player in double figures with 10 points.
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Belvidere 66, East 43: Lauren Hyser scored 23 and Kayla Harris added 17 in Belvidere’s win.
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Belvidere 73, East 58: Tyler Barr scored 29 points for Belvidere in a rout of East. Eric Hollins scored 19 points and D’Wan Horton had 17 for East.
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Guilford 73, Belvidere 71 (OT): Balance carried the day as five different Vikings scored in overtime to help Guilford edge Belvidere 13-11 in the extra period. Spencer Young led Guilford (6-15, 2-7) with 19 points, while Leandre Harmon added 16, Quavion Kimball 12 and Thomas Hawkins 10.
Andrew Eck scored five of his 17 points in overtime to lead Belvidere (7-11, 2-7). David Delacy also scored 17 for the Bucs, while Tyler Barr added 15 and Austin Burns 12.
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Freeport 64, Belvidere 30: Katie Norman and Suporia Dickens led the charge for Freeport with 18 and 11 points. Sylvia Slaughter had seven points for Belvidere.
ROCKTON — Hononegah’s 3-point bombers have been turned inside out. The Indians’ first eight baskets in Friday’s 65-52 NIC-10 girls basketball victory over Belvidere came on layups.
“It’s shocked people a little bit,” 6-foot senior center Lindsay Lengjak (16 points) said. “Hononegah is known for 3s and people are surprised when we get in the paint. My word is saucing it up.”
Saucing it up?
“The girls laugh at me,” Lengjak said, “but I say saucing it up all the time. Getting in the middle is different, so saucing it up. Keeping it spicy.”
Hononegah 51, Belvidere 30: Chase Robinson and Dustin Meier each scored 12 points as Hononegah did just enough to earn a win over Belvidere.
Eleven players scored for Hononegah, while the Buc got 12 from Andrew Eck and had just five players reach the scoring column.
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ROCKFORD — Michael Morman had three 3-pointers and 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter to lead Boylan to a 68-45 home win Saturday against Guilford.
Boylan led by three (18-15) after the first quarter but then pulled away in the second with a 21-14 run.
Kieran Jansen and Jason Painter added eight points apiece for the Titans.
Dontay Hanson’s 18 points was the team-high for the Vikings.
Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament
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.
BELVIDERE — Tyler Barr and Andrew Eck return to lead an athletic Belvidere team under second-year coach Aaron Pearson.
Barr (6-2 Sr. G) is the lone returning starter from last year’s team that finished 13-16 (6-10 NIC-10), while Eck (6-2 Sr. G) joins him as a leader.
“Those are our two captains who have been with us every day all summer,” Pearson said. “They’ve been the leaders for us from day one, and we’re going to look to them to do a lot for us. If they go, we’ll be on.”
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.
Mundelein Tournament
MUNDELEIN — Rolling Meadows beat Belvidere 45-34 at the Mundelein Holiday Tournament. Lauren Hyser led the Bucs with 12 points.
BELVIDERE — The Bucs wish first-year coach Darcee Baney could go back in time.
“The girls always ask me, ‘Why don’t you put on a uniform?’ ” said Baney, a former Harlem star who was a first-team Division II All-American forward at Lewis University in 2007.
Baney, Belvidere’s sixth coach in eight years, uses her experience to teach the Bucs.
“I get in there and play with them and show them. They get how to do it and then they can actually see it,” Baney said. “I can push them around a little and teach them to get stronger inside.”
BELVIDERE — Tiras Harris had the kind of game most fantasy football owners would drool over.
The Belvidere senior running back rushed 35 times for 315 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Bucs hung on to beat Rockford Jefferson 45-41 Friday night at Funderburg Stadium.
Harris scored four times on runs of 5, 11, 12 and 12 yards. He had 14 carries of 10 or more yards on the night.
He flirted with Belvidere’s all-time single-game rushing record, which is held by John Grubb, who had 353 yards in a game back in 1962.
FREEPORT – Fasten your seatbelts: The NIC-10 has officially joined the 21st century.
As Ohio State keeps finding out in the BCS title game, modern offenses can score on any play. And with any player.
That’s now how it was done for 70 years in the NIC-10, even more staid than the Big Ten. But that’s how it’s done now.
“The conference used to be run, run, run,” Harlem assistant coach Rich Infusino said. “But the trends are changing.”
BELVIDERE – If Belvidere thought it could expose some weaknesses in Boylan, which played without starting quarterback Zach Lane on Friday, the Titans needed just one quarter to change that.
After a close first half, the Titans scored five touchdowns in the third quarter enroute to a 49-9 NIC-10 football victory against the Bucs at Funderburg Stadium.
Will Sahlstrom started things for the Titans in the second half when he scored on a 48-yard run to make it 21-7.
BELVIDERE – It was a game Belvidere desperately needed to win. It was a game that the Bucs almost let slip away.
Belvidere saw a three-touchdown lead in the second half nearly disappear as Rockford East, behind quarterback Michael Dye, mounted a comeback. But an interception by the Bucs’ David Gamboa midway through the fourth quarter thwarted a potential game-tying score as the Bucs hung on for a 27-20 win Friday night at Funderburg Stadium.
FREEPORT — The Freeport Homecoming crowd roared as Wes Gastel crossed the goal line in the waning moments of Freeport’s 37-28 win over Belvidere.
Gastel returned a Belvidere onside kick try 48 yards for a touchdown with 2:14 to play.
Gastel extended the Pretzels lead to nine when he caught the onside kick on a high bounce and had a clear path to end zone.
“I thought about just dropping because of the time situation,” Gastel said. “I just didn’t want to risk not getting the first if there wasn’t enough time.”
BELVIDERE – Rockford Guilford and Belvidere came into Friday night both desperate for its first win of the season.
The Vikings, expected by some to contend for the NIC-10 title, was last in the conference in scoring, having been outscored 63-6 in the first two games. Belvidere has made the playoffs the past seven years, but the Bucs have also had a rough start to the season.
Thanks to the return of five starters and a beefed up rushing attack, Guilford finally got that elusive first win with a 31-0 win over Belvidere on a sloppy field at Funderburg Stadium.
MACHESNEY PARK - The Bucs hung around until midway through the second quarter Friday night, but Harlem went on a roll late in the first half and barreled over Belvidere the rest of the way, strolling to a 36-13 win.
Harlem wingback Keith Purifoy rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown while averaging 16.5 yards per carry, and quarterback Keenan Kellett completed only two passes, but they went for 47 yards with a TD to tightend Casey Beck.
MACHESNEY PARK — The famed no-huddle wishbone offense that has led Belvidere to 26 consecutive winning seasons is in mothballs. So, too, might be the Bucs’ string of reaching the playoffs in 20 of the last 23 seasons if they lose tonight at Harlem (1-0).
“No team wants to start 0-2,” coach Matt Weckler said.
ROCKTON - The game featured eight fumbles, 13 penalties and a combined 18 yards passing.
On a ragged opening night Friday, Hononegah coach Tim Sughroue was just glad to get out with a win, after the Indians took control late in a 41-14 win over Belvidere.
“I expected a few of those kinds of things in the first game, but that was way too many,” Sughroue said. “But Belvidere is a great program, and no matter how you win against them, it’s a good win.”
BELVIDERE — Belvidere coach Matt Weckler knows his team has its work cut out for it this season. But the goal remains the same for the Bucs: win at least five games and reach the playoffs.
Thanks to the split with Belvidere North a year ago, Belvidere has just 32 players on its varsity roster. That’s a drastic change from last year’s team, which made it to the third round of the playoffs with a deep and talented team that included 58 players. Still, Weckler isn’t expecting any less this time.
