Burlington Central routs Johnsburg

The showdown of Kishwaukee River Conference boys basketball unbeatens didn't quite live up to expectations. But no one from Burlington Central is complaining.

The Rockets slowly pulled away in the second half, turning a close game into a rout and a 74-48 home win over Johnsburg Tuesday night.

The Rockets led 44-36 with just over 5 minutes left in the third quarter. They began to assert themselves with an 11-3 run and blew the game wide open by outscoring the Skyhawks 19-7 in the fourth quarter.

Zach Schutta paced the Class 3A No. 10 ranked Rockets (18-2, 5-0) with 30 points. Patrick Mayfield scored 16, and Dejsani Beamon and Michael Kalusa added 9 apiece for Central.

Mayfield and Beamon each grabbed 6 rebounds. Caden Scott had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Rockets held the Skyhawks to just 3 field goals and 16 points after intermission.

A change in defensive philosophy helped the Rockets open things up. In the first half, they focused on trying to keep the ball out of the hands of Johnsburg sharpshooter Zach Toussaint.

"We got caught in some rotations and gave them some easy buckets," said Central coach Brett Porto. "In the second half, we came out and just said we're going to guard him man-to-man. We executed much better in the second half. We held them to just a few field goals and that's where we really distanced ourselves."

Toussaint finished with 14 points, but nobody else reached double figures for Johnsburg.

Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter.

"When I sat on the bench," said Schutta when asked when he thought the Rockets had the game under control. "It didn't seem like it when I was in the game. The energy level was really high and it didn't seem like we were ahead by a lot the whole game."

Johnsburg took the lead early by hitting 3 straight shots, but the Rockets matched the feat to stay close. They went ahead for good at 14-11 on a 3-pointer by Schutta. Still, they led just 20-18 after 1 quarter.

As the season heads into the dog days, the Rockets haven't seemed to have any trouble with motivation, as evidenced by Tuesday's second half, when they continued to pull away.

"We just motivate ourselves from within," Schutta said. "We just want to get out there and play, play with our friends and just go out there and win."