Rockridge denies Aurora Christian
DeKALB - Aurora Christian stayed within striking distance of Rockridge throughout the majority of Tuesday night's Class 2A NIU supersectional, but never really found an offensive rhythm.
Thanks to a commanding 37-29 rebounding advantage and a stifling defense that limited Eagles standout senior forward R.D. Lutze to just two free throws, Rockridge pulled away in the final minutes and secured a repeat trip to Peoria with a 51-40 victory.
The Rockets (27-4), winners of 22 straight and last year's third place finishers, will face Hales Franciscan in Friday night's second state semifinal.
"We watched a lot of film of them and they're just a really good defensive team," credited Eagles coach Pat McNamara. "They played back line defense and packed it in."
Aurora Christian (25-6) connected on just 13-of-50 attempts from the field, including a 7-for-31 performance in the second half.
Lutze and sophomore Jake Wolfe, who normally average over 32 points combined for the Eagles, managed just 10 points between them.
Wolfe finished with 8 points to share team-high honors with senior Dusty Barrett, who provided a spark off the bench. Jeremiah Wright and Pat McNamara added 7 points each, and Wright had 7 assists.
"We make sure that we spend a lot of our defensive energy on those top two or three guys and make sure that we're boxing out and getting the rebounds," said Rockridge coach Toby Whiteman.
"They packed it in well and tried to prevent the extra pass," Wright said.
Wright and McNamara chased Rockridge junior guard Gentry Whiteman all over the court, but Whiteman still managed to rack up a game-high 20 points.
T.J. Martens shut down Lutze on the defensive end and added 14 points for the Rockets while 6-foot-4 forward Carson Frakes collected 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
"We tried to play Whiteman man-to-man and deny him the ball, but he's a smart player and a tough cover," McNamara said.
Trailing 25-20 at the half, Aurora Christian came out strong and tied the game on a basket from Wolfe and a 3-pointer from Tanner Dissell.
The Eagles stayed within 28-27, but Frakes' offensive rebound led to a 3-point play and the Rockets won another loose ball scramble, leading to another 3-point play from Martens.
Brock Harner's drive pulled Aurora Christian within 42-37, but Rockridge put the game away with a 9-point run that included a pair of highlight reel layups from Whiteman.
Aurora Christian trailed for most of the first quarter before forging in front 12-11 on consecutive 3-pointers from Wolfe and Wright.
Whiteman answered with a trifecta for Rockridge before Barrett scored inside on a nice feed from Wright to even the score at the end of the quarter.
Barrett hit a 12-foot baseline jumper and scored inside to put the Eagles in front 18-16, but Rockridge went on a 9-0 run highlighted by a long 3-pointer from Whiteman and a follow-up basket from Frakes.
Lutze tallied his only two points of the half on free throws to make the halftime score 25-20.
"It's a great credit to them," McNamara said. "We just had a wonderful season. These guys should be able to look back on some fond memories. They had some big wins throughout the season.
"This group of seniors worked really hard. We have a pretty good culture now. We're pretty strong at the lower levels, we've got some guys coming back that can play. I think is lot of it is a tribute to the senior group. They really put basketball as a priority."