Burlington Central notches 33rd straight league win
Johnsburg's girls basketball team came into Burlington Central's gym Tuesday night with upset on its mind. And why not? The Skyhawks were 8-1 in the Big Northern East and if they could pull off the unexpected it would likely mean tying for the division championship.
For the better part of the first half Johnsburg kept pace with the Rockets before falling behind by 8 points at halftime.
Then came the third quarter.
The Rockets, ranked No. 10 in the AP Class 3A state poll this week, blasted out of the second-half gate with an apparent sense of urgency to let their visitors know they intend to win the BN-East outright for the third straight year. BC outscored the Skyhawks 28-4 in the third quarter, eventually cruising to a 55-24 win.
"Hey, they're 8-1 in the conference and that was a battle for first place," said Rockets' coach Mark Smith, whose team won for the 33rd straight time in the division. "We didn't shoot a great percentage tonight but in the second half our ability to get the ball inside and then go inside-outside as much better."
Senior Alison Colby had a monster game for the Rockets (18-3, 9-0), scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as well as contributing 3 steals.
"Without question Alison Colby played like she was possessed tonight," Smith said. "She's been like that in practice, too. She just will not be denied. She was going against two probable all-conference players tonight and had a monster game."
To Colby, who reached the 900-point mark for her career Tuesday, it's about being a senior leader.
"I'm locking in," she said. "I've come to the conclusion you just have to give it all you've got and that's the best way to lead the team. It's my senior year and I'm ready to take over games like this. The third quarter we just kept up the intensity the whole time and it was fun."
In that third quarter, the Rockets led 30-19 after Johnsburg's Kayla Stefka hit a 3-pointer with 5:45 left. But BC junior Shelby Holt came right back with a 3 that started an 18-0 Rocket run that out the game out of reach.
Colby and junior Sam Pryor had 8 points each in the quarter and junior Kayla Ross added 7. Pryor also finished with 16, hitting four 3-pointers, and Ross scored 14. Pryor had 4 assists in the game and Ross 4 assists and 5 steals as BC collected 18 steals in helping the Skyhawks (15-9, 8-2) to 27 turnovers.
Trace Chase led Johnsburg with 6 points. The Skyhawks were just 8 of 30 shooting and had only one field goal, Stefka's 3-pointer, in the second half. BC, meanwhile, finished the game making 21 of its 54 field goal attempts after going just 9-for-27 in the first half.
"Chase scored 18 the last time we played them so we knew we had to stop her," Smith said. "We shut her down effectively. Colby and the defense did a great job."
After playing at Marengo Thursday, the Rockets will travel to Lombard Saturday to take on top-ranked Montini, the two-time defending Class 3A state champion. Montini beat BC 34-26 in last year's Class 3A semifinals at Redbird Arena.