Kaneland 62, Yorkville 55

Down 6 at halftime and worried?

Oh come now, this is Kaneland's boys basketball team, a squad whose nickname should be Gophers because they've dug themselves out of some epic deficits this year.

But Kaneland's teams are called the Knights, and Tuesday's joust was with visiting Yorkville. A furious second half rally helped Kaneland unseat the Foxes and claim a 62-55 Western Sun Conference victory.

"It was kind of slow-paced," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said. "But we had a good fourth quarter, which was the difference."

Nick Wagner wasn't the only player to score for Kaneland (9-15, 5-9) in the first half. But the senior's 16 points certainly kept Yorkville from gaining more than its 32-26 halftime margin.

"It felt good coming off my wrist," Wagner said. "Lately, it's been going in and out. Finally it started falling today."

And Yorkville (7-18, 0-12) rarely missed. The Foxes hit 15-of-19 shots in the half and only missed once in the second quarter.

"Give Yorkville credit, they were hitting shots," Hansen said. "We did just enough to hang around."

In that first half, the Knights had trouble finding 6-foot-9 Dave Dudzinski. Not only did the sophomore center fail to take any shots, he hardly touched the ball offensively.

"It was one of our halftime adjustments," Dudzinski said. "We were definitely looking to get the ball inside. It opens up everything outside."

Wagner scored an additional 12 second-half points to complete his game-high 28 total. But Dudzinski was the real key. He scored 10 points, including 6-for-6 free throws as Kaneland began to assert its inside presence.

Six-foot-five Nate Peters, also scoreless in the first half, scored 6 second-half points as the Knights continued to pound the ball inside.

From the moment Jordan Rollins (16 points) hit a 3-pointer 2 minutes into the game, Yorkville led the contest. The biggest lead came at 19-10 early in the second quarter. Although Kaneland rallied, the Knights still trailed until early in the fourth quarter.

The turnaround was swift. First Dudzinski scored inside, then Brody Root hit a baseline 3-pointer. Following a turnover and a nifty pass from Kevin Green, Wagner scored and Yorkville took timeout.

The rally continued with a pair of Wagner free throws and a Peters basket, the run lasted 3:15 and gave the Knights a 52-45 lead.

"It's something we're not used to, being ahead late in the game," Dudzinski said.

The Knights hit 9-of-11 fourth quarter free throws to ice the win.