Rochelle catches, passes Hampshire
ROCHELLE Hampshire led for the majority of Tuesday's game here.
The host Hubs led when it mattered the most.
No. 2 seed Rochelle took its final lead with 37 seconds left and No. 3 seed Hampshire just couldn't respond, finally losing 59-57 in a semifinal game of the Class 3A Rochelle boys basketball regional.
Matt Rosenwinkel's jumper from the left wing gave Rochelle just its second lead of the game, with the first lead totaling just 20.6 seconds. Hampshire (17-11) was the forced to foul, which was not a good thing for the Whip-Purs.
Rochelle, which will play Kaneland Friday for the regional championship, went 20-for-24 from the free-throw line in the game, making 9 of 10 in the fourth quarter. The Hubs (20-10) scored 14 of their 27 second-half points from the free-throw line.
"You can't get outscored by 12 from the free-throw line at their place, it's tough," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. "We turned the ball over. We had our opportunities."
Hampshire's next possession after Rosenwinkel's score was a turnover, which after a series of timeouts led to Grant Prusator making a pair of free throws to extend Rochelle's lead to 58-55 with 16 seconds left. Prusator (12 points) was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final period.
Tyler Crater pulled up for a 3-point attempt, but missed with Rosenwinkel grabbing the rebound and getting fouled in the process. He split his free throws, intentionally missing the second with 8 seconds left securing the win for Rochelle. Luke Wians scored as time expired for the Whips.
Hampshire did nearly everything right in building a buzzer-to-buzzer first half lead. The Whips pounded the ball down low to Tyler Watzlawick, who finished with 15 of his 22 points in the first half.
Sophomore guard Ryan Cork was able to spread the ball all around the Whips' offense, finishing with 6 assists in the first half.
Hampshire shot 60 percent (15-for-25) from the floor draining 5 3-pointers and shooting 5-for-8 from long range. Crater, who was 4-for-5 from the floor, scored 11of his 16 points and made all 3 of his 3-point attempts.
"We shot real well in the first half," Barnett said. "We haven't shot well in several games. The last couple we were coming out of it a little bit."
Hampshire committed just 6 turnovers in the first half and owned a 15-12 rebounding advantage. Hampshire led 36-23 with 2:46 left in the first half, before Rochelle closed out the second quarter on an 8-2 run.
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy," said Watzlawick, who finished with 14 rebounds and 2 blocks. "We executed our game plan. We kept our turnovers down in the first half, but the second half got away from us."
Brock Ralphs added 10 points for Hampshire.