Barbs beat Bucs in quarterfinals

By Bob Kopp

BDR Sports Correspondent

DEKALB – The Bucs did not play badly in losing 61-46 to host DeKalb in the quarterfinals of the 88th Annual Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic.

The lethal combination of DeKalb’s perimeter play and big bodies pounding the paint were too much for a game but overmatched Belvidere.

Led by 6’3″ senior sharpshooter Michael Pollack who sank six shots from beyond the arc in leading all scorers with 21 points, 6’8″ senior Luke Davis and 6’5″ senior Robert Mitchell controlled the boards and added 11 and nine points respectively.

With senior Deante Barnes scoring seven of his nine points in the first quarter and senior Eric Munoz knocking down two of his four three pointers on the way to a team-leading 16 points, the Bucs trailed 17-16 after the first period before the outside accuracy and inside acumen of the Barbs kept the Bucs from never closing within less than seven points for the rest of the game.

Juniors Austin Revolinski (eight), Joey Hernandez (seven), Xavier Dent (two), Will Morris (two), and senior Matt Kopp (two) completed the scoring for the Bucs as juniors Austin Brockmann, Nate Horton, and Jacob Rodriguez also saw action.

Winnebago, expected to challenge Belvidere and DeKalb for the title, decided not to fight the ice and snow unlike the other 15 teams in the tournament and forfeited its game to West Chicago to move into the consolation bracket with the Bucs.