South Beloit Staying Strong in Non-Conference Play

By Chris Johnson, REPORTER

 A physical style of play matched with pinpoint shooting nets wins. There’s no debating that approach works regardless of the opponent a team is facing any night. The South Beloit Sobos know their season is about to take off. The wins are going to be there for the taking and recently they have been finding a lot of them. Heading into the Friday, Dec. 16 showdown at Rockford Christian and adjusting for weather conditions, the Sobos had won back-to-back matches on the road. On Thursday, Dec. 8 they knocked off Faith Lutheran 67-31. On Tuesday, Dec. 13 they took care of Keith Country Day, winning by 35 points, 68-33. The last loss in December to Christian Life showed how hard this year’s band of athletes will be willing to work. After trailing by two points, 18-16 after the first quarter of play, South Beloit went toe-to-toe during the second quarter with each team scoring just over half their first period totals. At the break the Christian Life edge was two points, 28-26. Things picked up in the third quarter as each team came out and ran its offense efficiently. There wasn’t a lot of time between plays and a lot of points were being scored in the eight-minute frame. Combined the two teams put up 56 points in the period. The third quarter was better for the Eagles though, as they put 31 up on their own. After three quarters of play the game was still within reach for South Beloit as they trailed 59-51. The reality of smaller school play is the best athletes are typically going to start and a lot of the bench is going to be involved. Late in games after scoring flourishes, things start to happen as points rise, so do turnovers and fouls. In the fourth quarter Christian Life scored five points. South Beloit could only manage four and lost the cross-conference battle 64-55.

The Sobos prepare for a short break before they head to Eastland for the multi-team shootout. Games in Lanark begin on Monday, Dec. 26 and run through the final week of 2016. Scheduled matches for South Beloit are listed as Galena, Prophetstown and Polo.

January 2017 opens with a showdown with Woodstock out of the Kishwaukee Valley Conference. Since the Dec. 16 scheduled match with Rockford Christian, the Sobos were scheduled to play the next five-of-six games against teams from outside the Sobos own Northeastern Athletic Conference.

The annual MLK Tournament at South Beloit will be held Jan. 14-Jan. 16. Conference play resumes for the Sobos on Jan. 20 as they play in Elgin against Harvest Christian Academy. Matches against Luther North, Christian Liberty and Elgin-Westminster Christian all wait for South Beloit in the weeks before the February post-season begins.