Center of attention: Two star NCAA Division I recruits battle it out in Rising Stars game
The Rising Stars senior all-star basketball games are as much a celebration as they are contests.
“We’re all just trying to have fun with each other,” Orangeville’s 6-foot-4 star Whitney Sullivan said.
That was most evident by Sullivan dancing to "Cotton-Eyed Joe" during the timeout before the fourth quarter.
“I know that song a lot. I dance to that song at football games,” Sullivan said. “I am just trying to have fun. Dancing. Playing. It doesn’t matter.”
Much of the fun Saturday night was the game within the game between a pair of star centers in the NIC-10 Girls’ 66-61 victory over the All-Area Girls at Rock Valley College.
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Sullivan, who has signed with Tulsa, led the All-Area girls with 18 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. But her good friend was named MVP, with Boylan’s 6-3 Lily Esparza finishing with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three assists to lead the NIC-10 to victory. The NIC-10 Girls are now 15-11 all-time in the series.
Esparza might have clinched the win by getting back on defense with 30 seconds remaining and twice stopping Sullivan to keep the NIC-10 ahead by four points.
“That was a big stop for me,” said Esparza, who has signed with NCAA Division I Denver. “It always makes me feel good when I can stop Whitney because she’s a powerhouse and she usually scores on me.
“She’s one of my best friends, both on and off the court. She couldn’t be my enemy if she tried. She’s just the sweetest person and I look up to her as a player. It was so much fun to play against her.”
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Nothing is more fun in girls basketball than making 3-pointers. The NIC-10 pulled out its win by making a dozen 3s to only three for the All-Area Girls. That included six 3s in the second quarter and another four in the fourth to help the NIC-10 rally from a 49-45 deficit.
Two of the biggest 3s were by Esparza’s former Boylan teammates. Alayna Petalber made a 3 from a couple feet behind the arc to wipe out the All-Area Girls final lead, putting the NIC-10 ahead 52-51. And Kaylee Harter’s 3 put the NIC-10 ahead to stay, 57-54 with four minutes left.
“You’ve got to start shooting from that now that I am moving to the next level,” said Petalber, who got plenty of practice shooting long-distance 3s on a recent three-week trip to the Philippines for an international tournament that used the international and college line.
Rockford Christian’s Kaitlin Park had 14 points for the All-Area Girls and Stillman Valley’s Mya Janssen added 10 points and five rebounds.
Esparza was the only NIC-10 player in double figures. Hononegah’s Jordan Johnson had nine points, all on 3s, and four assists. And she also had the game’s best celebration, exchanging a flying chest bump with former Hononegah teammate Oliva Robinson (five rebounds, four assists) after the final buzzer.
“It’s our last game and we went out with a bang, so you’ve got to celebrate,” Johnston said.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rising Stars girls game a celebration of Rockford's best seniors
