Rochelle press wears down Wheaton Warriors in 62-57 win
ROCHELLE - It's hard to say if Rochelle's full-court pressure knocked Wheaton Academy off its game.
One thing for sure, the Warriors did themselves no favors shooting the ball in the second half, which doomed them to a 62-57 loss to Class 3A sectional semifinal host Rochelle.
After making 14 of 23 shots in the first half, No. 1 seed Wheaton Academy (17-9) made 8 of 24 in the second half. As Warriors coach Paul Ferguson said, "compounding the issue" was a difficult time from the 3-point arc and the free-throw line.
"I thought the key to that game was we didn't shoot the ball well," said Ferguson, whose Warriors came off their first regional title since 1998. "We went 54 percent from the free-throw line and were 0 of 6 from the 3-point line, and that was really costly. We knock down a couple of those, maybe it's a different game."
Rochelle coach Russ Zick had his third-seeded Hubs (14-16) run full-court man pressure nearly the whole game. He believed that may have taken the legs out of the Warriors.
"I thought the press made them tired," Zick said. "Tired enough that, you saw those shots at the end, they really weren't close on the 3s. And once we didn't think they could hit 3s, that allowed us to double down a lot more."
The target of the double-team was Wheaton Academy junior Tim Rusthoven, who finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Fellow junior big man Anthony Ritchie was the only other Warrior in double figures with 12 points.
"I just felt we were that close to blowing the game wide open all the time," Ritchie said.
That never happened. Despite Wheaton Academy's first-half shooting, mainly by Rusthoven, the Warriors couldn't shake Rochelle.
Guard Andy Wilkinson and off the bench Evan Tracy kept the Hubs within 3 after a quarter and 4 at halftime. In the second half the purple-clad Rochelle fans heated up, and so did their team. Consecutive 3s by Wilkinson gave Rochelle a 39-37 lead early in the third quarter, its first lead since 20-19 in the second.
"They were giving me room, so I felt disrespected and I knocked down those shots," said Wilkinson, who scored a game-high 24 points.
Rusthoven and Ritchie battled back to go up 45-43, but Wheaton Academy entered the fourth quarter trailing 47-45 after Kevin Kane made 2 free throws and Wilkinson added 2 more.
Wheaton Academy's last lead was 51-49 with 4:56 left to play on a Rusthoven basket in the lane. Two Rusthoven free throws had the Warriors within 1 with 1:40 left, but they missed their last four shots while Rochelle's Ben Schwartz closed it out with 3 key rebounds and 4 of 6 from the line.
"I don't know if it was the pressure at the end, but we just didn't knock them down," Rusthoven said.
Rochelle advances to meet the winner of tonight's game between Oswego and Belvidere North.
CLASS 3A ROCHELLE SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
rochelle 62, WHEATON ACADEMY 57
Rochelle - Svela 1 0-0 2, Wilkenson 7 6-7 24, Kane 4 2-2 10, Schwartz 3 4-6 11, Krabbe 0 2-2 2, Tracey 3 3-5 9, Eyster 2 0-0 4, Metzger 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 17-22 62.
Wheaton Academy - Albaugh 1 0-1 2, Streets 0 0-0 0, Gorski 2 0-1 4, Ritchie 5 2-3 12, Rusthoven 10 9-13 29, Pell 1 1-4 3, Lesner 1 1-2 3, Burdett 1 0-0 2, Fritz 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 13-24 57.
Rochelle 16 15 16 15 -62
Wheaton Academy 19 16 10 12 -57
3-point baskets: R: Wildenson 4, Kane.
Fouled out: R: Kane.