Marengo turns the tables on Burlington Central

Burlington Central's 7-point win over Marengo on Monday for its second-straight MLK Classic title was as close to a complete game the Rockets have played this season according to coach Brett Porto.

But the hurried shots and ineffectiveness to run its offense in Friday's 50-46 Kishwaukee River Conference loss to the Indians on Rocket Hill was a complete 180 in the conference rematch.

After a 48.6 percent shooting clip from the field in the first meeting Central (16-2, 2-1) found itself in a funk, going 17 of 48 from the field for 35.4 percent, which helped Marengo (15-4, 3-0) seize sole possession of first place in the KRC.

"If we shoot smart shots we're a really good team," Porto said after seeing his team's 7-game win streak snapped. "When we don't run the offense we give (opponents) extra possessions and until we learn that we're going to let teams hang around and today we got burned."

The burn was felt in the first quarter being outscored 14-8, but in a big way in the final 5 minutes. Central, which trailed throughout, built a 41-37 lead with 5:27 left in the fourth on Mike Kalusa's only bucket. From that juncture the Indians, led by Mike Volkening's 25 points, outscored BC 13-5 the rest of the way as Central couldn't get a timely bucket. Besides Will Hough's right corner 3-pointer with 1:06 left to cut the deficit to 3 and Ta Vontae Harris' double clutch layup to cut it to 2 with 31 seconds left, Central had 1 shot blocked, a charge called and a couple of bad misses from deep - a bit of a microcosm of their rushed first half.

"We took quick shots and didn't create any offense for each other. We came down and shot a 3 which was a bad shot," said Harris, who led BC with 12 points to go with 4 rebounds and 2 steals. "We knew we had to get a bucket to take the lead back but that didn't happen."

Kalusa scored 17 on Monday but had just 2 points and fouled out Friday while Joey Ratzek had 9 points and 6 rebounds and Emmanuel Wells added 8 points and 3 steals. Central shot 3 of 17 from deep but had success going to the hoop to start the third and fourth quarters, taking early leads in those moments.

"Whenever we got good looks we're screening, cutting and moving hard," Porto said. "When we don't we're taking quick shots and that led to Volkening's offense and he got the ball off the rebound and scored at least 6 points like that."

Volkening at times was tough to stop, especially in transition. His 10 second quarter points were a major reason Marengo held a 26-22 lead at the half, doing exactly what Porto said off Central misses. Blaine Borhart's 10 points and 2 key layups, one that gave Marengo the lead for good with 4:25 left, were also clutch as the Indians benefited from a 50 percent shooting night on 36 shots. But it was a perfect storm for Marengo having played Central 3 days earlier, which helped them key in defensively on Central's shooters.

"Obviously you never want to let Zach Schutta (5 points) get open out there and there's a few other guys," said Indians coach Nate Wright, whose team helped force 12 turnovers. "But their job was to help and then bust their butt out and close out as best they can. And if they knocked down a shot, they knocked down a shot. But with a team like that you have to play your percentages and hope the guys are the lowest percentage have their off night and game plan accordingly."