Belvidere looking at fine-tuning for final run

By Chris Johnson

REPORTER

Beginning Monday, Feb. 13, the IHSA Class 3A and 4A Girls’ State Basketball Championship Tournament will begin. Teams from across Illinois will start the second season. Until the Regional tip-off, the Belvidere Lady Bucs can improve their chances to get a quick start in the post season.

Statistics support the idea that a smoother-running “basketball-machine” will produce win streaks. It further supports the idea that a timely win streak is all that is needed to capture a state title. Belvidere has shown how much streaks have influenced its success this season and has shown the ability to get a lot of things right in a row.

The winter campaign opened for the Lady Bucs with three straight losses. It rebounded with three straight wins as December welcomed the holiday tournament schedule.

A three-game losing streak opening December involved matches against conference front-runner and NIC-10 title challenger Hononegah. It continued with a three-point loss to Harlem and a convincing loss to defensively-charged Guilford.

The Lady Bucs went on to win in back-to-back fashion in three of their next four matches. They entered the Christmas break on another positive note and proof of how things worked out when everything came together.

Since the end of the holiday tournament schedule, the Lady Bucs have struggled. They fell to eastern-powerhouse Johnsburg on Thursday, Dec. 22.

After suffering through back-to-back losses to Rockford East and Belvidere North, they reset to face Rockford Boylan on Friday, Jan. 13. Boylan remains in charge in the NIC-10 and appears locked in as the early favorite to take the title this season.

Belvidere North can still play better basketball and can find the combination needed to build another hot streak. There is time. The upcoming schedule features scheduled matches with teams Belvidere has to try to find ways to beat. They have a chance to influence how things start moving.

The NIC-10 schedule continues with home games against Freeport on Monday Jan. 23 and Hononegah on Thursday, Jan. 26, before the road trip to close the season tips-off starting at Rockford East on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Matches at Harlem on Friday, Feb. 3 and at Guilford on Thursday, Feb. 9 shut down the winter sports regular season schedule for the Belvidere Lady Bucs.

As seeds are issued into the first week of February, it appears the Belvidere Lady Bucs will open the Class 3A State Basketball Playoffs at Rockford Lutheran during the week of Monday, Feb. 13.