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Basketball roundup
By Christopher Johnson
Lady Indians conquer Big Northern
The championship is in the books for the Winnebago Lady Indians following a double-digit win over Rockford Lutheran Thursday night.
By a score of 62-57 the Lady Indians improved to 9-0 in the Big Northern, making them the undisputed champion of the 2021-2022 winter season.
With a record of 27-2, the five point win over the Lady Crusaders in the conference-closer kept things locked down and Winnebago in perfect finding.
Byron closed the campaign with an impressive 22-4 mark and nearly perfect 8-1 record in the Big Northern.
It was good enough for solid control of second, one game ahead of third place finishing and co-22 win member Stillman Valley.
Dixon finished fourth with a 6-3 mark, but carries the second best victory total of the regular season into the winter second gathering. They open the final week of play sitting with a 24-5 mark.
Winnebago’s push to the title game involved having to eliminate a few nuisance threats along the way.
The Saturday 13-point win over Stillman Valley started the final streak towards completion of the winter 2021-2022 games.
It was followed up by a much more relaxed 16-point decision over Rockford Christian, keeping the Lady Royal Lions hovering at the break-even mark this season.
The conference preliminary to the Thursday finale against Rockford Lutheran was managed over Genoa-Kingston as January games came to a near close.
The Lady Indians won by 42 points, one of the greatest margins of victory over a conference regular this season.
By the time time had come a close in the Big Northern Championship, Winnebago had pushed itself to near top-standing on the Class 2A Polls.
This week marks the end of the regular season for the Big Northern Champion Lady Indians. They will be home Tuesday to start.
The early week meeting with Harlem tipped off following completion of the junior varsity match.
On Thursday, Feb. 10, Wheaton St. Francis plays host to Winnebago, marking the final regular season game of the year.
The IHSA Girls Basketball State Championship Tournament begins on Saturday, Feb. 12.
Winnebago was issued the one seed, which is the highest designation and shares overall distinction with other high-profile, top quality teams from across northern Illinois.
Aurora Rosary, Chicago Noble/Butler and Elmhurst IC Catholic also received top billing in the Class 2A Sectional.
The Class 2A Johnsburg Sectional Tournament opening round games feature a few Big Northern conference mates, which Winnebago could face again in the post-season.
Ten-seed Oregon takes on nine-seed Port Byron-Riverdale. Five-seed Genoa-Kingston takes on eleven-seed Richmond Burton and seven-seed Rockford Christian takes on eight seed Savanna West Carroll in Saturday get togethers.
Byron was issued the two-seed in the Johnsburg Sectional Complex and will play Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 6pm against either Rockford Christian or Savanna West Carroll.
Stillman Valley, which closed the year in third place in the Big Northern picked up the three seed in the second season.
They will face either five-seed Rockford Christian or twelve-seed North Boone in the 7:30 p.m. game in the Rockford Lutheran Class 2A Regional.
Pecatonica holds fast in first with a week to go
Beginning with the Tuesday, Feb. 8 match against the NUIC’s second best team, the Pecatonica Indians prepare to wrap up the final five on the regular schedule.
It will be an important stretch as the Indians attempt to hold on to first place in the talented small school Northwest Upstate Illini Conference.
Heading into the early week meeting with Freeport Aquin, Pecatonica was 7-0 in the NUIC and held a two game lead over Aquin in the loss column.
The Indians with their 7-0 mark hold standing as the most successful team through most of the winter campaign.
Orangeville and Lena-Winslow both sit two games back of Pecatonica in the win column and each will have a chance to impact the final standings over the final handful of games on the season.
With the meeting with the Aquin Bulldogs already taken off the schedule by the time this week’s edition of the Gazette Newspaper is released, the Indians will be set for their own final four with no worse than a one game lead over second place Freeport Aquin.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the first of two schedule against the Bulldogs, with the final meeting slated for Monday, Feb. 14, three days before the winter session ceases.
The Indians pushed their way to the front of the pack early in the season and never relinquished position, always staying no worse than at least one game ahead of the pack.
Victories over NUIC-familiars Durand, Orangeville and Pearl City guided the Indians to the two game cushion they held into this week’s games.
On Thursday, Feb. 3, the Indians offense showed why it was ranked among the league leaders, easily dismantling the host Dakota Indians, winning by 30 points.
Pecatonica wasted no time forging separation between itself and the host Indians. Points began to accumulate and as the first quarter ended, the visitors from the east had already built a double-digit advantage.
As the second quarter played through the Indians edge softened slightly, seeing their eleven-point lead still growing, but at a slower pace.
At the break the match was already fairly decided as the first place Indians entered the well-deserved time off in front 28-12.
Let-up did not occur in the third for the visitors. The Indians had their most prolific scoring period of the night, securing 20 points and stretching the halftime edge to an insurmountable 48-25 lead.
Some time was spent allowing a few fresh ideas to filter through the Indians offense in the fourth frame.
The two teams combined for 27 points, with Dakota knocking down ten, slightly less than it had scored a period earlier.
As the final siren sounded, Pecatonica had improved to 7-0 in the NUIC and saw the season mark slide up to 20-6.
On Thursday night Pecatonica travels to Lena-Winslow for the final conference meeting of the regular season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm.
Friday night Pecatonica is home and will play host to nearest neighbor Durand. The Bulldogs have struggled offensively and sit near the base in the Northwest Upstate.
The final week of the regular season begins at Freeport Aquin on Monday night, Feb. 14 with the 2021-2022 winter campaign coming to an end on Thursday, Feb. 17 at home against the Orangeville Broncos.
