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.
Rockford Christian 63, North Boone 49: Rockford Christian may be young, but the three seniors on the roster don’t want to be forgotten.
“They’re not ready to be done yet,” Royals coach Cedric Jones said.
Ben Erickson, Conrad Ognibene and Grant Anderson combined for 10 points on the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to lead the Royals to a 63-49 win against North Boone Tuesday at the Christian Life Regional.
Rockford Christian 67, Faith Christian 61: Brayden Teuscher scored a career-high 31 points to lead Rockford Christian to a 67-61 win over Faith Christian from Williams Bay, Wis. Wednesday.
The win put the Royals at 20-5 on the season, making this the first 20-win year in program history.
Sterling Newman 46, Rockford Christian 29: Junior guard Amy Hicks scored 20 points, but Rockford Christian (23-5) committed 27 turnovers and allowed 27 offensive rebounds and No. 3-ranked Sterling Newman pulled away in the second half. The Royals shot only 21 percent (10-for-48).
“We couldn’t seem to get many open shots, but we tried our best,” Hicks said.
The Royals, who won their first regional and posted their first 20-win season, trailed 26-21 midway through the third quarter before five straight turnovers began a 9-0 Newman run.
Rockford Christian 82, Alden-Hebron 68: Drew Anderson scored 12 points to lead Rockford Christian, which rallied after trailing 38-35 at halftime.
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Rockford Christian 52, Genoa-Kingston 40: Rockford Christian gained respect and its first ever girls regional finals berth Wednesday.
The Royals, seeded fifth despite its 20-4 record entering the postseason, knocked off top-seed Genoa-Kingston 52-40 in the semifinal.
“We knew we were better than a (No. 5) seed,” said Royals junior Amy Hicks, who scored a game-high 29 points. “So it was really cool to beat the top seed to show everyone.”
With the score tied at 9-all starting the second quarter, Rockford Christian quickly moved ahead 16-9.
Faith Christian 52, Rockford Christian 49: Rockford Christian fell behind Faith Christian after the second quarter and couldn’t rally, resulting in a 52-49 loss. Brayden Teuscher scored 15 points, while Conrad Ognibene added 13 to lead the Royals.
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Rockford Christian 45, North Boone 30: Rockford Christian used its defensive press to beat North Boone 45-30 Monday to advance to the Genoa-Kingston Regional semifinals.
The Royals pulled away with a 20-9 second-quarter run. Freshman Samantha Hellyer scored 14 points, and Amy Hicks added 10.
“We started slow,” Rockford Christian coach Terry Gulley said. “Both teams really started slow. We were up 6-4 when I called a 30-second timeout and went to the press. Then we just ran away with it. They couldn’t handle the pressure and started throwing the ball away.”
Rockford Christian 61, Christian Life 16: The Royals got the best of this private school battle led by Amy Hicks’ 14 points. Rachel Kloster added 11 points for the Royals, who led 44-16 after three quarters.
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Indian Creek 55, Rockford Christian 38: Brianna Hellyer and Amy Hicks each had nine points in the losing effort.
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Rockford Christian 82, Keith 46: The Royals dominated from start to finish, led by Brayden Teuscher’s 19-point outing. Keith’s Jason Jennings had 16.
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Rockford Christian 50, Keith 48: Amy Hicks’ game-winning jump-shot with 1.2 seconds remaining handed Rockford Christian a 50-48 overtime win over Keith on Tuesday.
It also handed the Royals their first Indian Trails Conference title.
“The girls just went crazy when we finally won it. This is such a great group, and they deserved it,” Christian head coach Terry Gulley said. “This was one of those games where whoever got the ball last was going to win.”
Rockford Christian 51, Wales (Wis.) Ethan Allen 45: Grant Anderson led Rockford Christian on Monday with 13 points and Drew Anderson added 12.
ROCKFORD — In the past week, the Rockford Christian boys basketball team hasn’t had much success when it comes to overtime games.
Heading into Thursday’s contest against rival Christian Life, the Royals had lost twice in overtime games against Rockford Lutheran and Kenosha (Wis.) Reuther.
The Eagles, playing in a packed home gym, made the Royals work extra hard before Rockford Christian pulled out a 65-63 triple-overtime victory.
Brayden Teuscher’s basket with 4.3 seconds remaining in the third overtime became the game-winner.
Rockford Christian 74, Berean Baptist 9: Rebecca Johnson scored 15 points, Amy Hicks 12 and Rachel Kloster 11 as Rockford Christian (18-3, 7-1) broke the school record for wins in emphatic fashion. The Royals led 64-2 after three quarters.
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Reuther Central 77, Rockford Christian 66 (OT): Reuther Central outscored the Royals 16-5 in overtime. Doug Anderson scored 26 points for the Royals.
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.
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.
Genoa-Kingston Tournament
GENOA — Molly Meier (24 points) and Lauren Strohmaier (17 points) combined to score 41 of G-K’s points in the Cogs’ 68-44 win against South Beloit. Kristen Saari poured in 28 points for the Sobos.
Byron 41, Stillman Valley 39
Keith tops R. Christian in semi-finals
Lamish Al-Basha scored a game-high 21 points to lead Keith past Rockford Christian 54-49 in the semifinals of the Rockford Christian Tournament.
Keith will play Indian Creek in today’s 8 p.m. championship game.
Trinesha Cornell added 14 points for Keith.
Rockford Christian, led by Amy Hicks’ 18 points, outscored Keith 26-25 in the second half, but was held to six points in the third quarter. Brianna Hellyer also had 10 points for the Royals.
Winnebago 72, C. Life 27
STILLMAN VALLEY — It probably still smells like gun powder in Stillman Valley this morning.
The cannon that celebrates every Cardinals’ touchdown went off eight times during Stillman Valley’s postseason opener. The Cardinals beat Rockford Christian 58-14 Friday to advance to the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Stillman Valley will be on the road next week against the winner of today’s game between Aledo-Westmer (8-1) or Lisle (5-4).
The Cardinals rushed for 379 yards in the running-clock win. It was the fourth time this season they have scored at least 50 points.
KIRKLAND — With a 10-8 win over Hiawatha, Rockford Christian (6-2) guaranteed itself a spot in the IHSA playoffs. It didn’t come easy either, as the Royals needed a Drew Anderson interception with 30 seconds to seal the victory.
“The receiver wasn’t looking, and I read the quarterback,” Anderson said.
It was the second key defensive stop in the final three minutes for the Royals. On Hiawatha’s (3-5) previous possession, Colton Gann and Dennis Mikulich teamed up to tackle Angel Hernandez for a loss on fourth down at the RC 24.
ROCKFORD — Wayland Academy’s game plan was simple: Run the football.
That’s exactly what the Big Red did Friday en route to a 42-0 win over Rockford Christian.
Wayland Academy unleashed its three-headed ground attack of Brennan Fitzgerald, Austin Williams and Adam Bunkoske, who combined for 389 rushing yards.
The Big Red of Beaver Dam, Wis., finished with 451 total rushing yards to the Royals’ 59.
ROCKFORD - Rockford Christian outscored Mooseheart 21-8 in the first quarter and held on for the win.
Conrad Ognibene completed 16 of 21 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns for the Royals. Passing touchdowns went to Drew Anderson (23 yards), Albert Piamonte (4 yards) and Jake Bliss (15 yards).
Colton Gann added a 1-yard TD run, and Ognibene also kicked a 34-yard field goal. The Royals (5-0) will now prepare to face state-ranked Alden-Hebron (5-0) on the road next Saturday.
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ROCKFORD — The Christian Life Eagles once again lost to Walther Lutheran, but coach Chuck Leonard said his team’s effort was the best he’s seen all week.
Walther Lutheran racked up 419 yards in total offense and pitched their eighth straight victory over the Eagles in a 35-6 win in Private School League action on Friday.
Last week, the Eagles lost to Aurora Christian 62-0.
ROCKFORD — Two games, five days, no problem.
"It wasn’t really that hard,” Rockford Christian coach Kirk Heidelberg said. “We just did what we had to do.”
The Royals crushed Arlington Heights Christian Liberty Academy 62-0 Friday at home just four days after they played a make-up game at Winnetka North Shore Country Day.
Monday’s game was postponed from last weekend due to bad weather.
“We were excited when we found out we’d be playing twice this week,” Rockford Christian junior running back Colton Gann said. “It’s not often you have a chance to win two games in one week.”
ROCKFORD — It was all offense in Week 1, and all defense in Week 2.
Rockford Christian hasn’t put the two together in a single game yet, but that’s not what matters.
“We’ll take the wins,” Royals coach Kirk Heidelberg said.
The Royals beat Christian Life 19-12 Saturday to improve to 2-0. Senior quarterback Conrad Ognibene had another solid night with two rushing touchdowns and 174 offensive yards. In last week’s 35-34 win against Greendale (Wis.) Martin Luther, Ognibene had 289 passing yards, three rushing touchdowns and scored the game-winning conversion run.
Hiawatha’s players have never seen a winning football season in Kirkland.
It’s been 21 years since the Hawks had success, and it’s been a long two decades since.
But with their entire offense returning and the numbers higher than they’ve been in years, Hiawatha is finally approaching a season with hope.
