Burlington Central holds off Rockford Lutheran
Ultimately, Burlington Central held off Jimmy Clark and Rockford Lutheran.
Clark almost single-handedly brought the Crusaders back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets held on for a 61-54 Big Northern crossover boys basketball victory in Rockford Tuesday night.
Clark's free throw made it 56-54 with 40 seconds to play, but the Crusaders would not score again. Sam Klein and Jared Moxness made 5 free throws down the stretch to clinch it for the Rockets (2-3).
Clark finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and a couple of blocks before fouling out with 7 seconds left. He scored 22 of his team's 28 second-half points.
At times the second half took on the feel of a game of HORSE between Clark and BC's Ray Hunnicutt. Clark scored 11 points in the third quarter alone, but Hunnicutt nearly matched him with 8, finishing with 24 points and 7 rebounds.
“I felt Ray did a good job of staying within himself,” said Central coach Brett Porto. “He had his most points of the season and he shot the least amount of times. He let the game come to him and you saw a big difference.”
Klein finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Thomas Fitzgerald added 9 points and 8 boards, and Tim Sullivan had all 8 of his points in the first half for the Rockets.
Central raced out to a 13-4 lead, with Hunnicutt and Sullivan accounting for 11 of the points, then watched the Crusaders score the last 12 points of the first quarter to lead for the only time.
Hunnicutt and Fitzgerald led another 13-4 run as the Rockets went up 35-26 at halftime.
They led 54-44 with about 4 minutes left, but Lutheran scored 6 straight points and 10 of 12 to get within 2. The Crusaders played pressure defense and forced some turnovers including a controversial charge called on Hunnicutt to get the ball back without sending the Rockets to the line. When they were forced to foul, Klein made 4 of 6 from the line and Moxness added another, his only point of the game, to keep the Rockets ahead.