Oswego 60, Belvidere North 39: Belvidere North noticed the mismatches during warmups.
“They’re bigger, stronger, faster, and we knew that right away,” North coach Darrin Sisk said after his team’s loss 60-39 loss to Oswego on Wednesday.
“Just shaking hands with them before the game, I’m looking up to all of them except (one). Anytime you see they have a legitimate 6-4 point guard, you know you’re in trouble.”
North’s season ended in the semifinals of the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional. Oswego (23-6) will play Rochelle (14-16) at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the title.
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 North 62, Crystal Lake Central 40: It will be an all-Belvidere Class 3A final as the Thunder and Bucs won in very different fashions in semifinal regional play Wednesday.
Belvidere North advanced with a 62-40 win over Crystal Lake Central.
After having a 27-11 lead shrink to 37-33, Belvidere North put on a 15-0 run to close out Crystal Lake Central in what seemed to be three-part game.
“When we executed and didn’t rush our shots, good things happened,” North coach Darrin Sisk said.
Belvidere North 63, Jefferson 62: Belvidere North’s Kyle Dovenmuehle hit two of three free throws with 11 seconds left to stun Jefferson on Saturday.
Jefferson fell to 20-6, 10-5 in the NIC-10.
Jack Adams led Belvidere North (13-11, 6-9) with 27 points, while Jordan Kerley and Mershon Wilkes had 13 apiece for Jefferson.
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Auburn 59, Belvidere North 52: Auburn went 13 for 15 in fourth-quarter frees for the win. Kashif Maxwell (20 points), Xavier Pittman (17) and Darnell Van Vleet (11) scored in double figures for the Knights. Jack Adams scored 16 for North.
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Belvidere North 70, Marengo 43: Jack Adams had 22 points to lead the Blue Thunder, who led 41-21 at halftime. Dominique Hall added 11 points for North.
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 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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Hononegah 60, Belvidere North 55: Mario Donaldson scored 21 points and Matt Carroll added 14 for the Indians. Kyle Dovenmuehle scored 21 points and Jack Adams had 15 for North.
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Hononegah 60, Belvidere North 44: A 17-point effort by Erin Ryczek powered the Indians to victory.
Andie Behling paced North with 10 points.
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Boylan 79, Belvidere North 41: A 25-8 first-quarter outburst led to Boylan’s rout of Belvidere North. Brea Edwards scored 23 points for Boylan and Maria Ludeke added 10. Jillian Leutscher scored eight points to lead North.
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Belvidere North 81, East 70: North’s Kyle Dovenmuehle scored 27 points to lead the Blue Thunder over East. East, which outscored North 26-18 in the fourth quarter but still fell short, was led by Eric Hollins who scored 22.
Belvidere North 52, Freeport 49: Freeport’s troubles behind the 3-point line were like one of the Pretzel cheerleaders’ flips down the court in the fourth quarter — the form was dead-on, but they couldn’t stick the landing.
A Ryan Hickey 3-pointer, with more than two defenders contesting the shot, fell short just before time expired in a 52-49 boys basketball loss to Belvidere North. The Pretzels finished 5-for-26 from behind the 3-point line, including 1-for-9 by Hickey. The Blue Thunder were 3-for-12.
Freeport 52, Belvidere North 28: Katie Norman scored 18 points, while Suporia Dickens and Courtney Shiffer added 10 each to lead Freeport, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A. The Pretzels (20-2, 11-0) outscored North 16-0 in the third quarter.
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Belvidere North 66, Woodstock 51: After leading by one point at the end of the third quarter, North outscored Woodstock 28-14 in the fourth. Jack Adams and Alex Gomez finished with 21 and 16 points, respectively.
Auburn 51, Belvidere North 47: Anita Amisi scored 14 points and drained two late 3-pointers and led Auburn — which trailed by eight at halftime — to a comeback win.
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BELVIDERE — Jack Adams scored his 1,000th point, but Belvidere North faded down the stretch during Friday’s 53-39 loss to Auburn.
Adams finished the night with 12 points and now has 1,003 for his career. He was the lone Blue Thunder player in double figures, however.
Auburn was led by Kashif Maxwell (12 points) and Darnell VanVleet (11).
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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.
BELVIDERE — Last year was just a warm-up. Now Belvidere North can really compete.
“We’re hoping to build on the foundation we laid down last year in the inaugural season,” North coach Darrin Sisk said.
Bringing back the leading scorer in the conference is a good start.
After finishing 8-20 (1-15 NIC-10) in the team’s first year, North and senior Jack Adams will try to bring the program up a level.
Adams, a first-team all-conference player, led the NIC-10 in scoring last season with 22 points a game. The 6-6 senior forward is one of four returning starters.
BELVIDERE — North returns not just all five starters, but it’s entire team.
And one.
Senior guard Leah Schwendeau missed last year with an ACL injury. Now she is back, as are starters Jessica Gamble, Bobbi Johns, Jacobi Banks, Jillian Leutscher and Andie Behling for second-year Belvidere North.
WHEATON — The Belvidere North players held up their helmets to their fans after their game, and the crowd cheered loudly.
It didn’t matter that North lost the game by 35 points. North fans knew that this team was special because it was the first North football team to qualify for the playoffs.
But for now, the first playoff win will have to wait.
Wheaton St. Francis breezed past North in the first-round Class 5A playoff game with a 49-14 running-clock win Saturday. North ends its season 5-5 after finishing 3-6 in its inaugural season in 2007.
ROCKTON — If Harlem and Boylan were the big Broadway act Friday, the off-Broadway production at Hononegah turned out to be a pretty good show in its own right.
The Indians (7-2) held off Belvidere North 27-20 to claim third place outright in the NIC-10.
“This was just a good high school football game by two teams,” Blue Thunder coach Curt Tobin said.
Brett McWilliams had two touchdowns and 217 yards rushing in helping Hononegah to a 27-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
“Brett had an amazing game — what a workhorse,” Hononegah lineman Zach Johnson said.
ROCKFORD — Belvidere North coach Curt Tobin knows the importance of Corey Wennmacher to the Blue Thunder offense.
“As Corey goes, we go,” Tobin said of his senior quarterback.
On Friday night, Wennmacher got the Blue Thunder going on the game’s opening play, returning the kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.
He also threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns as Belvidere rolled to a 63-26 victory. The points output was the most in the two-year history of the school.
Wennmacher was far from satisfied.
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.”
Jefferson’s homecoming also was a special night for Belvidere North’s Keith Larson.
The junior quarterback returned to action after being sidelined since the season’s first game with an ankle sprain.
Larson showed little rust Friday, throwing two touchdown passes to Jacob Billon in a 48-13 victory over Jefferson.
“It felt great just to get back on the field,” Larson said. “There is no better feeling than to get out there on a Friday night and play football.”
ROCKFORD - Belvidere North wants to know what all the fuss about playing at Boylan is about.
In their first ever game at Titans Stadium, the Blue Thunder threatened to upset the conference powerhouse on its home turf Friday.
“I think other teams come in here thinking they’re already beat a lot of times,” North quarterback Corey Wennmacher said after his team’s 21-13 loss at Boylan. “But we didn’t.”
BELVIDERE — Belvidere North slowly chipped away at East on Friday, eventually cruising to a 28-6 win in its last home game at Funderburg Stadium.
BELVIDERE — Some teams might worry if their starting quarterback was out with an injury. Not Belvidere North.
With Keith Larson unavailable because of a leg injury suffered last week in a loss to Harlem, the Blue Thunder turned to Corey Wennmacher, the starting quarterback last season. Before Larson's injury, the plan was for Wennmacher to play more wide receiver and free safety this year.
BELVIDERE - Last year, Harlem didn’t have a chance to play its season opener against then first-year program Belvidere North because of a teacher’s strike.
Fast forward a year later, and both teams took the field at Funderburg Stadium, where Harlem pulled out a 24-7 season-opening victory against the Blue Thunder.
“It really meant a lot to come out here and be able to play,” Harlem quarterback Keenan Kellett said.
Harlem coach Jim Morrow was pleased with his team’s effort, but he would have liked more production out of the Huskies in the red zone.
BELVIDERE – What a difference 12 months make.
A year ago at this time, Belvidere North was kicking off its inaugural campaign. The Blue Thunder had to scramble to get ready for the season: There was no offseason program and coach Curt Tobin wasn’t hired until August.
And yet North was respectable, finishing 3-6 with wins against Machesney Park Harlem (a forfeit because of a Harlem teachers’ strike), East and Jefferson. They also lost to Auburn 20-19 in OT.
