Can surprise NIC-10 basketball leader stay on top? Games of week, current standings

Look who is on top of the NIC-10?

Belvidere North, a school that has never finished even .500 in the conference, is tied with Guilford, which won its first league title in 23 seasons last year, at 4-0 in the league.

“We’ve made enough plays in the first four games to win the games, but three of the games came down to the last possession or so,” North coach Todd Brannan said. “Fortunately, we made the plays, but we certainly are not that much better than anybody else in the conference. We can’t look past anybody.”

More: 5 reasons why Belvidere North football pulled off a stunning win over Boylan

That’s why Belvidere North is playing one of the biggest games of the week — even though the Thunder aren’t playing Auburn, Guilford or Boylan, the three teams picked in the preseason to be at the top of the conference.

Here is our look at the four top boys and girls basketball games to watch this week, followed by the NIC-10 boys and girls basketball standings:

BOYS

Belvidere North (7-1, 4-0 NIC-10) at Hononegah (4-4, 2-2 NIC-10), Friday

The Blue Thunder beat conference favorite Auburn 53-51 Friday despite missing all-conference guard Adam Brown, who sat out with tendinitis in his Achilles. They also rallied to win by three points at Boylan for the first time and outlasted Harlem by two in overtime. Harlem is only 3-7 (1-3 NIC-10). Those results show both how good Belvidere North can be and how narrow its margin is.

“We have to take care of the basketball and try to be at least even on the glass,” Brannan said. “ We rebounded well against Auburn, gave up only seven points in transition and 11 second-chance points.

“Our defense was good and we made just enough plays. Last year we were in so many close games and weren’t able to pull them out. I don’t know if we learned from last year or if we have just gotten a little lucky. I don’t really care what the reason is, but we have been able to pull them out. That win Friday meant a lot to our program.”

More: 3-time NUIC West champs battle 2-time defending NUIC North boys basketball champs

Scales Mound (8-1) at South Beloit (6-1), Thursday

Scales Mound returns three starters, including All-State guard Thomas Hereau, from last year’s Class 1A state runners-up. But the Hornets lost 70-54 last week to a Pecatonica team picked as the area’s top team before the season began. Can South Beloit compete with the elite 1A teams in the area? Maybe. A year ago, 6-8 forward Ross Robertson had 37 points and 24 rebounds in a double-overtime sectional loss to Scales Mound. Robertson is still only a junior and the Sobos have won 27 games two years in a row, one shy of the school record. But the Sobos are rebuilding around Robertson and lost to Sterling Newman (4-4). This is their chance to show how they measure up against the other top area Class 1A teams.

GIRLS

Byron (5-3) at Stillman Valley (10-1), Friday

How good is Stillman Valley? We may find out this week. Stillman Valley, powered by a pair of 1,000-point scorers in Taylor Davidson and Mya Janssen, is fresh off a 49-42 win over Dixon (9-2). But it’s other nine wins have come against teams that are a combined 30-56. Byron is the defending Class 2A state runner-up. Games against Maple Park Kaneland (6-2, 4-0 in Interstate 8) on Tuesday and Byron on Friday is Stillman Valley’s chance to show it is the team to beat in the Big Northern. Byron has won seven Big Northern titles since 2007. Stillman Valley has won none. Last year, the Cardinals were 5-4 in the conference and 23-3 in non-league games. This is their chance to show whether they can be a true heavyweight or not.

Guilford (6-3) at Boylan (8-2), Friday

Guilford (3-1 in the NIC-10) and Boylan (4-1) have already lost head-to-head against two-time defending undefeated conference champion Hononegah (9-0, 5-0). The winner Friday stays in the conference hunt. The loser is realistically either out of the race or clinging to slim hopes of a tie if they run the table the rest of the way.

NIC-10 boys basketball

School, Conf, Overall

Belvidere North, 4-0, 7-1

Guilford, 4-0, 7-2

Auburn, 3-1, 3-5

Freeport, 2-2, 4-4

Boylan, 2-2, 4-4

Hononegah, 2-2, 4-4

East, 1-2, 2-6

Harlem, 1-3, 3-7

Jefferson, 0-3, 3-5

Belvidere, 0-4, 1-7

NIC-10 girls basketball

Hononegah, 5-0, 9-0

Boylan, 4-1, 8-2

Guilford, 3-1, 6-3

Harlem, 3-2, 5-4

Belvidere, 3-2, 6-4

Auburn, 3-2, 5-6

Jefferson, 2-3, 4-5

Freeport, 1-4,. 4-5

East, 0-4, 2-6

Belvidere North, 0-5, 1-9

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: Top Rockford-area basketball games to watch, plus NIC-10 standings