Lady Rockets defeat Marengo in a thriller

By Todd Rohde~CORRESPONDENT

The Richmond-Burton girls’ basketball team entered their contest with Marengo Feb. 1 pretty evenly matched, setting the stage for a competitive showdown. And by the time that it was all said and done, the fans were treated to quite an exciting bout as the game came right down to the wire to determine a winner.

Fortunately for the Lady Rockets, they had enough left in their tanks to pull off a thrilling 60-58 Big Northern Conference victory in a high scoring game over the Indians in Richmond. The victory improved the Rockets 13-11 overall for the season and to 8-4 in league play for the year.

The Rockets and Indians matched each other’s performance to a tee in the first two quarters of play, as they switched baskets and the lead several times during the stretch. Both programs put down 12 points in the first quarter and six apiece in the second to remain locked at 18-18 at halftime, as Jessica Villo and Sabrina Marsh accounted for all but four of the Indians scoring in the half.

A big change came in the second half though, as the Indians were able to pick up the intensity on offense and distance themselves from the Rockets a bit. They accomplished this by outscoring Richmond by a 17-10 margin in the third to overtake a 35-28 advantage with a quarter to play.

Villo and Amanda Hoeske each dished in five points in the quarter, while Marsh added four more to fuel the fire.

But don’t count the Rockets out just yet, as they saved their best for last by making a run of their own to make things interesting in the final quarter.

The Rockets came on strong to start the final quarter, as they pulled to within a point at 47-46 with just under five minutes to play.

After a back and forth battle, Richmond finally overtook the lead with under a minute to play and would never surrender it the rest of the way out.

Richmond outscored the Indians 7-3 in the final minute and a half, as Sam Boettjer converted a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.

Alex Callahan led the Rockets with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Boettjer reached for a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards to go along with three steals.

Hannah Koenig finished with 10 points and Abby Straight dished off nine assists, as five different Rockets scored five or more points in the game. Villo and Marsh each scored 17 apiece for Marengo including going 8-14 from the foul line.

 

Johnsburg High School

The Johnsburg girls’ basketball team knew coming into their game Feb. 2nd that they would have their hands full against a quality team and would have to play nearly perfect if they were going to have a chance at coming out on top.

Their prediction became a reality, as they were faced up against the No. 14th ranked Class 3A team in the state in Rockford Lutheran and the Crusaders proved why.

Despite putting for a solid effort, the Skyhawks were on the losing end of a 52-36 nonconference loss to the Crusaders at Johnsburg. What makes the defeat even tougher to take is the fact that the Skyhawks lost their leading scorer in Megan Landazzi for the rest of the season, as she left the game in the fourth quarter with a possible torn ACL.

“I’m proud of the girls performance here tonight, as they played hard against a very good team and never stopped fighting,” Johnsburg head coach Brad Frey said.

The Skyhawks made things interesting in the second half, as they pulled to within seven points heading into the fourth quarter. But that’s as close as they would get unfortunately, as Johnsburg faded a little down the stretch and that allowed the Crusaders to take over once again.

Kayla Toussaint was the leading scorer in the game for the Skyhawks with eight points.

 


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