Belvidere North short on first half shot

By Chris Johnson

REPORTER

Belvidere North is trying to keep hanging around and still be an influencing-factor in the race for the NIC-10 title. A loss to the conference leading Boylan Lady Titans on Friday, Jan. 6 wasn’t the ideal start the Lady Blue Thunder had in mind, but it at least showed the rest of the conference that no game would just be given away. Earning would be required.

Boylan fought hard through the opening minutes of the 2017 opener and managed to find enough offense to move to the second period up two points, 13-11. It wouldn’t be long until a couple break and a few lucky bounces helped the Lady Titans get back on a relatively fast track. They held Belvidere North to just four points scored.

The effort was critical as the Lady Titans offense found its best flow of the night during the same frame. At the half, Boylan led Belvidere North 31-15.

The third period had a few bright spots for Belvidere North. Quick hands led to breakaway chances. Boylan was still too strong and outpaced the Lady Blue Thunder 15-9 in the third. With the fourth period still yet to play, Boylan was well on its way to another conference win and another step towards the NIC-10 title.

The Lady Titans chipped in 16 points in the final quarter and made pressure-packed attempts when necessary. They played like a champion on their way to a 16-11 quarter victory and a 62-35 conference win.

Belvidere North moved away from the loss in time to prepare for one of the most well-attended matches of the season. The showdown with Belvidere was played with the Bucs on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Details of that contest are unavailable at this time.

The Lady Blue Thunder regular season runs through Thursday, Feb. 9 when they host Freeport in the final match on the winter schedule.

Prior to that, Belvidere North will face weekly chances to move up the standings as they prepare to face Jefferson on Friday, Jan. 20 followed by Rockford East on Tuesday, Jan. 24 and Harlem on Friday, Jan. 27. All three of those critical NIC-10 contests will take place at Belvidere North High School.

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, the Lady Blue Thunder get a chance to see if they got any better since their 2017 season-opening loss to Rockford Boylan. The Lady Titans host Belvidere North.

The home field edge tips back towards Belvidere North on Friday, Feb. 3 as they host Guilford. A quick jump to Rockton and a meeting with Hononegah waits. Then, it’s home to close the year.

The IHSA Selection Committee will begin taking a closer look at who the best teams are in northern Illinois. They will issues seeds for the upcoming Regional-Sectional Complexes based on their discoveries, along with other pieces of information they gather through the last two weeks of play.

Belvidere North has a chance to influence how much of a chance they might have to advance into the later weeks of February and possibly take a shot at an early March visit to Redbird Arena. They have to find win streaks.