Burlington Central earns Strombom title again

Getting outscored by seven points in a quarter and having an opponent put together a pair of 7-0 runs would normally rattle a team and especially a coach.

Burlington Central, however, was as cool as coach Brett Porto and his ocean blue sport coat.

That's not just because the Rockets opened the game with an 8-0 surge and closed the first quarter with a 7-0 string; the real reason is because Central prides itself on composure, an indefatigueable defense, and a next-play focus.

All of which enabled the Rockets' boys basketball team to cruise past Sandwich 58-42 Saturday night to claim their second straight Sycamore-hosted Leland G. Strombom Holiday Tournament title.

"It's exciting to win back-to-back titles and be one of the few teams to achieve that," noted BC's Zach Schutta, who obviously checked the program's history dating back to its 1963 inception as the King Corn Tournament.

The consecutive crowns are the first repeat since the host Spartans took four straight from 2001-04.

"Our mentality coming into the tourney was to go back-to-back by focusing on what we do best," explained Schutta, who accomplished a personal repeat being one of three Rockets named to the all-tournament unit. "We want to share the ball, run transition whenever possible, and always play tough defense."

Central (4-0) owned a 21-3 first-quarter lead that enabled it to endure those two scoring droughts, the second of which actually pulled Sandwich (2-2) to within 6, 23-17. After the two sides traded baskets, the Indians were thinking comeback based on a 16-4 surge.

However, the Rockets' response was 5 unanswered points in the final minute for a 30-19 halftime advantage, followed by starting the third quarter with a 6-0 run. The deficit remained in the teens the rest of the way.

Schutta and Ta Vontae Harris, who also made all-tourney along with Joey Ratzek, both scored 6 in the opening quarter and finished with 13 points. Ratzek followed with 10 while Patrick Mayfield and William Hough added 7 apiece. The latter also made a few impressive blocks.

"One of our team goals is to always compete with a next-play mentality," Porto said. "Whether we just scored or got scored upon, execute on the next play. For the most part, I feel like we never had a drop in energy during the four tournament games. That's big at the high school level."

There were times when Harris was either receiving or making an assist that kept Sandwich from gaining too much ground. In addition, his speed produced 4 steals.

"I just want to do whatever is needed for us to win," Harris said. "My goal is to give 110 percent every time and especially set that tone on defense."

In addition to the three all-tourney players, Porto had additional praise for Hough and Michael Kalusa. "We had Kalusa often guarding the opponent's best player, so his defense throughout was strong. In this game in particular, Hough also made several game-changing defensive plays," Porto added.

Historically, Central has won the Sycamore tourney four times total, including 1995 and 1997. The Spartans were the first to win back-to-back (1965-66) followed by three straight for DeKalb, six consecutive for John McDougal-coached West Aurora, and two in a row for DeKalb in 1987-88.