Top basketball games to watch: Lutheran gets tests before first-ever foray into Class 1A
A long-time Class 3A power drops all the way down to 1A for the first time this year. And looks like a regional underdog. Will it be? We will get a better idea after this week, with a couple of Rockford Lutheran girls basketball games topping our games to watch this week:
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lutheran at Boylan, Tuesday
Lutheran (21-7) has won five regional titles since 2013, all in Class 3A, but drops down to 1A for the first time in school history this year. The Crusaders, ranked No. 9 in Class 1A, get a playoff warmup against Class 3A sub-sectional No. 2 seed Boylan (23-5). Lutheran coach Joni Carlson said playing Boylan, led by 6-foot-1 Lily Esparza, is an especially good warmup for a probable regional matchup with No. 2-ranked Orangeville, led by 6-3 Tulsa recruit Whitney Sullivan. “We are simulating for us what we can’t get in practice,” Carlson said.
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Orangeville at Pecatonica, Tuesday
Pecatonica (24-5) broke the school record for wins it tied the previous two years, but the No. 3 sub-sectional seed lost by 19 the first time it played top-seed Orangeville (28-1) and by 18 the first time it played No. 2 seed Aquin (20-5). Pec has been playing better lately, though, losing to Aquin by only five the second time around and recently beating a strong Lena-Winslow team for the third time, this time by 15 points. This is Pec’s chance to show it can play with the best of the best.
“Orangeville is a really good half-court team. They are unique in the area,” Pec coach Daniel Rosenstiel said. “Most of the other good teams press and get out and run. We can’t turn the ball over and give them extra possessions because they are so good in the half-court game. And we shoot a lot of jump shots, so we have to shoot well.”
Lutheran at Galena, Thursday
Lutheran was snowed out of Byron’s MLK tournament, giving it a chance to pick up two extra games. The first was a Boylan game to prepare it for No. 1-ranked Orangeville. The second is against No. 1 Galena (24-1), which has finished second and third in the state the last two years and has been top-ranked all year. So, welcome to Class 1A, where Lutheran will probably have to play No. 2-ranked Orangeville just to get out of its regional, then past No. 1 Galena to win a sectional and maybe No. 3 Annawan in the supersectional.
“It’s kind of funny; it’s the first time in the history of our program we have dropped to 1A, but it’s crazy how 1A looks tougher than 2A in our area,” Lutheran coach Joni Carlson said. “Galena is so athletic. They take you out of what you want to do. Their defense is spectacular. We have to take care of the ball. And they don’t give you many looks. When we get them, we have to knock them down.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
Rockford Christian at Dixon, Friday
Rockford Christian (19-5, 5-1 BNC) scrambled the Big Northern race last week by losing to Rock Falls by 18 but then handing Byron (21-1, 6-1) its first loss. Now, Dixon (21-5, 6-1) will likely tie Byron for the title if it can beat RC on Friday. Or RC can earn a share of the title if it beats Dixon and then wins its season finale against four-time defending champ Lutheran (17-9, 4-2). Or Byron could again be all alone in first if the Royal Lions beat Dixon but lose next week to Lutheran. It all depends on what Rockford Christian does next.
Freeport at Belvidere North, Saturday
Freeport (15-12, 10-4) has its first winning season in the conference since it went 10-6 a dozen years ago. With four games left against teams it went 3-1 against the first time around (including a two-point loss to Boylan), the Pretzels should get to 12 wins or better for the first time since future Butler star Willie Veasley led them to a 14-2 record in 2006. And if it beats Belvidere North (19-8, 9-5) it should finish at least third in the league and have a chance to catch Auburn (16-10, 11-3) for a share of second. Freeport beat North 49-41 a month ago. North enters the week needing one more win for its first 20-win season in school history.
“We were sluggish the first half, but the second half our defensive effort was what we have talked about all year, being able to guard and defend on a consistent basis,” Freeport coach Tee Jay Jackson said. “We made it really difficult for them to get scores.”
Naperville Neuqua Valley at Pecatonica, Saturday
No. 5 Pecatonica (21-4) has been state-ranked in Class 1A last year, with its most recent loss at the buzzer against 2A No. 3 Byron. Now comes a 4A power. Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton, who begins the week with 499 career wins in 25 years at the school, won 162 games in nine years at Pecatonica in the 1990s. That makes him the all-time winningest coach at both schools. He coached current Durand/Pecatonica coach Tyler Hoffman during his time at Pec. He attended the graduation of Hoffman’s son, Hunter, two years ago and hit it off with Pec basketball coach Bobby Heisler. They agreed to a home-and-home series the next two years, with Cooper Hoffman as Pec’s star.
“He said he was looking for games and was willing to play whoever. We are in the same boat,” Heisler said. “I like to challenge our kids and we had an opening on our schedule when Aquin didn’t have a team. This gives us the type of competition and atmosphere we want to see going into regionals. It should be a packed house.”
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 games: Pecatonica plays 4A power, Lutheran preps for 1A playoffs
