Burlington C. rolls by Round Lake

It took Burlington Central’s girls basketball team almost three quarters to get the pregame jitters out of its system. But once the Rockets settled into a rhythm, they took it to Round Lake in the first round of the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic at McHenry High School, winning 54-34.

Jessica Laird scored 17 points and freshman Alison Colby had 12 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Rockets (4-6).

Aaliyah Chastang scored 14 points for the Panthers.

The Rockets never trailed after jumping out to a 12-0 lead. But late in the third quarter, the Panthers scored 7 straight points to get within 26-21. At that point, Rockets coach Jenna Real brought back her starters and the Rockets started pressing. That led to a 17-0 run that quickly put the game out of reach.

“We came out kind of slow today, we weren’t really up to our speed,” Real said. “But we did kind of come back, finally. Things settled in the second half and we got into our game, which sealed it for us tonight.”

After a 3-pointer by Adrianna Pitts made it 26-21, the Rockets got down to business. A steal by Colby led to a 3-point play by Erica Haynes and Colby assisted on a basket by Laird to close the third period.

Laird scored 4 more in a row to open the fourth. Catherine Kaynish scored the next 3 for the Rockets, and Sarah Nelson added a pair of buckets to finish the run.

Defensively, the Rockets held Round Lake to 22 percent shooting and forced 40 turnovers.

Offensively, Central shot just 27 percent, but its fast-paced style and the Round Lake (0-7) turnovers allowed the Rockets to get 80 shots.

The cold shooting led to some big rebounding numbers. The Rockets had 53 rebounds, with Kaynish grabbing 10 and Laird 7. Pitts had 11 for the Panthers.

Nelson added 11 points for Burlington Central, while Haynes finished with 6 off the bench.

A total of 15 Rockets saw action.