Bucs celebrate Christmas in DeKalb

Bowling ball with pins

By Bob Kopp

BDR Sports Correspondent

DEKALB – Belvidere has not won DeKalb High School’s Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic since 1951.

That was a year before I was born!

Proving again that no one will out-coach, out-hustle, or out-tough the Bucs, the trophy could come back to the City of Murals in its 88th edition as BHS coasted to a 51-35 victory over Grayslake Central in the opener on the day after Christmas.

With versatile 6’7″ senior Jack Beckman – whose smart play is accentuated by a 32 on the ACTs – leading GC with 10 points, the Bucs faced a formidable height disadvantage against a team boasting ten players over 6’3″ and a senior-dominated starting five.

Undaunted by the mismatches, Head Coach Aaron Pearson and top assistant Nate Lister continued their timely substitutions from a deep bench and suffocated GC with multiple defensive schemes and a multi-faceted arsenal of offensive weapons that defy scouting.

With consensus first-team all-conference players senior Deante Barnes and junior Austin Revolinski contributing five and four points respectively while playing exceptional defense and holding Beckman to one of his season’s lowest totals, senior Eric Munoz led all scorers with 17 points that included four from beyond the arc.

Junior Nate Horton knocked down eight points with two three pointers and junior Xavier Dent controlled the paint and boards as usual and scored all of his eight points in the third when the Bucs pulled away 41-22.

Completing the scoring were juniors Joey Hernandez (six) and Will Morris (two) along with senior Matt Kopp (one). Juniors Austin Brockman and Jacob Rodriguez also logged minutes and complemented an increasingly notorious Buc-tough defense.