Rochelle 62, Wheaton Academy 57: Shortly after clamoring out from beneath the celebration scrum that had developed at midcourt Tuesday night, senior Andy Wilkinson’s head began to shake back and forth.
“I’m stunned,” he said, staring up at the rafters of the Rochelle gymnasium just minutes after the Hubs, still below .500 on the season, shockingly advanced to the sectional finals with a 62-57 win over Wheaton Academy. “I can’t believe it. We believed in ourselves, but this ... this is amazing.”
Rochelle 52, Freeport 49: Late-game struggles have hampered the Freeport boys basketball team at times during the season, and Friday night at the Sterling Regional, the Pretzels had another case of late-game issues.
After leading throughout, Rochelle stormed back and stole a 52-49 win and a regional championship.
“It was a real heartbreaker,” Freeport’s Wes Gastel said. “We had them down big and they came back.
“We all had shots we feel we should have made.”
Rochelle 77, Sterling 76: Sterling’s Joseph Bertrand gave the Fighting Illini fans in attendance a taste of what’s to come with a smooth performance, but it was the Rochelle Hubs who were celebrating a 77-76 upset victory at the end of Wednesday’s Sterling Regional semifinal matchup.
DeKalb 72, Rochelle 64: Jordan Threloff (36 points) and the DeKalb Barbs held off Rochelle to earn the season sweep. Rochelle’s Andy Wilkinson scored 22.
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United Township 74, Rochelle 62: Kannon Burrage’s game-high 27 points sparked United Township. Andy Wilkinson had 18 for the Hubs.
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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.
Sterling 71, Rochelle 46: Joseph Bertrand had 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals to lead the Golden Warriors. Niko Rivera followed with 17 points for Sterling, which outrebounded Rochelle 45-24. Andy Wilkinson had 18 points for Rochelle.
Rochelle 79, Yorkville 61: Andy Wilkinson (18), Brandon Svela (16), Ben Schwartz (13) and Nate Eyster (11) combined for 58 points for the Hubs.
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Sycamore 49, Rochelle 37: Sycamore pulled away from Rochelle with a 16-7 fourth-quarter run to secure the win. Montia Johnson (18) and Kate Binder (10) led Sycamore. Shanna Metzger led the Hubs with eight points.
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Rochelle 91, Sycamore 76: Andy Wilkinson scored a game-high 34 points to lead the Hubs. Wilkinson went 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. Kevin Fane added 18, Ben Schwartz had 17 and Nate Eyster had 10 for Rochelle, which outscored Sycamore 28-14 in the third quarter.
Shane Carnahan scored 25 points and Michael Buckner scored 16 for the Spartans.
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ROCHELLE — After starting Western Sun play at 0-6, an old friend was just what the Rochelle basketball team needed to reverse its fortunes.
The Hubs (7-12) defeated former NCIC conference mate Dixon, 67-54. The win snapped a 4-game losing streak for Rochelle, which last won against Streator, another NCIC team.
Kaneland 63, Rochelle 59: Kaneland went 15 of 16 in free throws, while Rochelle never stepped to the line.
Kyle Furman (15), Brandon Svela (13) and Nate Eyster (13) scored in double figures for the Hubs.
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In a 42-41 win over Kaneland, Katie Schwartz and Shanna Metzger played like seasoned veterans for Rochelle, not like the sophomores they are.
Schwartz took charge of the fourth quarter by scoring the first eight points for Rochelle (7-2, 1-2) and Metzger put a cap on the game by calmly swishing two free throws with 3.4 seconds left for the final margin of victory.
“I was so scared, but felt like I could make it,” Metzger said. “We work on free throws a lot in practice.”
“Shanna plays with confidence and Katie’s our leader,” Rochelle coach Kay Dobbs said.
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
CHICAGO — On the third play of its 5A playoff game against Chicago Robeson, Rochelle defensive back Shane McCluskey absolutely drilled Martinez Young on a pass reception, forcing a fumble. That was just a taste of many more hits to come by a vicious Hubs defense in a 40-13 win over previously unbeaten Robeson.
“As a 5-4 team, we had to let them know we meant business,” McCluskey said. “In the playoffs, you have to come out swinging.”
For the third time in four years, Rochelle came in as a 5-4 team and whipped a No. 1 or 2 seed.
ROCHELLE — Needing a win before even thinking about getting into the playoffs for the 11th straight year, the Rochelle Hubs took care of business in a big way Friday with a 44-8 home win over DeKalb.
GLEN ELLYN - Rochelle’s late comeback attempt fell short, and the Hubs will have to fight for their playoff lives next week when they host DeKalb.
Glenbard South (6-2, 5-1 Western Sun) jumped out to a 10-0 first-half lead and took a 17-0 lead on a 43-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. But Rochelle’s Ben Schwartz (18 carries for 106 yards), one of two Hubs to rush for more than 100 yards, plowed in from five yards out on the next possession, and Dan Ruppenthal (26-116), the other in triple digits, dove in for a 3-yard TD late in the game.
ROCHELLE - In a 35-14 loss to Geneva, Rochelle took a moral victory of sorts.
Consider: Geneva (7-0) is No. 3 in 7A, while the Hubs (4-3) are unranked in 5A. Rochelle had 23 healthly varsity players compared to a 75-man roster for Geneva. Rochelle's line was outweighed 35 pounds a player.
The Vikings had all-stater Michael Ratay (24 runs for 256 yards), while Rochelle's best runner Devon Mancillas was on the sidelines on crutches.
"I thought we played good," said Rochelle quarterback Nate Eyster. "They were just too big, fast and experienced."
ROCHELLE – It was Yorkville’s aerial attack versus Rochelle’s smashmouth ground game Friday, and it was no contest.
Rochelle fumbled away possession four times in the first half and allowed Yorkville quarterback Luke Parece to air it out for 271 yards passing on the night, but the Hubs’ homecoming game was never in doubt. The defense had two goal-line stands - one to close out the first half on the 3-yard-line - and surrendered only one late TD as the Hubs notched their first Western Sun Conference win of the year with a 29-7 whipping of Yorkville.
BATAVIA — The Hubs had two chances to at least tie it from inside the 7-yard-line with under 10 seconds left, but both Nate Eyster passes fell incomplete.
After scoring twice in the final minute of the second quarter, Rochelle (2-2, 0-2 Western Sun) grabbed a 22-14 lead at halftime. Another TD boosted the lead to 28-14, but Batavia stormed back from there.
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MAPLE PARK — Quarterback Joe Camiliere scored on a 4-yard run with 4:21 remaining to lift Maple Park Kaneland over Rochelle.
The Hubs outrushed Kaneland 199 yards to 87, but Camiliere completed 17 of 34 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown, while Rochelle had only 63 passing yards.
The Hubs had led on a Ben Schwartz punt return for a touchdown and a 5-yard run by Nate Eyster, but were held scoreless in the second half.
ROCHELLE — Dan Ruppenthal ran for 132 yards and two TDs on 20 carries to lead Rochelle’s dominant ground game.
The Hubs ran for 337 yards in their 30-0 win, with Austin Gabriel adding 93 and Ben Schwart 63. Nate Eyster completed 4 of 7 passes for 54 yards and one TD for the Hubs (2-0), who scored one TD in each quarter.
Dixon (1-1) was held to 95 yards, including 28 yards rushing on 25 carries.
