Hononegah clinches NIC-10 title beating Boylan

ROCKFORD — As their victories have mounted in the NIC-10 this season, Hononegah’s Indians have always had one particular matchup in mind.

While a victory at home against Rockford Boylan was huge earlier in the season, beating the Titans on their homecourt became the real mission.

“All over social media they were voting whether they were going to end our streak,” senior guard Olivia Robinson said. “I think that became more important than winning conference.”

The Indians managed to cross both boxes, beating the Titans 39-33 to clinch at least a tie for the NIC-10 title by going to 15-0 and also running their overall conference win-streak to 53.

The low score and physical play surprised no one.

“We expected this to be one of those games where every possession is a battle,” Hononegah head coach Jason Brunke said. “I think those officials were content with keeping us playing. You have to be ready for that and these girls are battle-tested. They stepped up and made enough plays. That’s what it is all about.”

The third quarter ended with Jordan Johnston smirking as she banked in a 3-pointer to give the Indians a 29-26 lead.

The Titans (23-5, 14-3 NIC-10) drew within a point at 32-31 on a jumper by Alayna Petalber with 3:33 remaining. Hononegah went up 36-31 as Jordan Dimke scored and 5-foot-3 Robinson drove the lane to draw a foul from 6-2 Lily Esparza and drained two free throws with 1:40 left.

“I think we all realized we had to step it up scoring-wise and try to get some fouls called,” said Robinson, who finished with 10 points.

Boylan closed to within 36-33, but Hononegah was able to work the clock down to 21 seconds before Johnston found Allyson Niedfeldt and she was fouled. Her two free throws made it 38-33 and Johnston delivered the key defensive stand when she took a charging foul against driving Petalber.

“Jordan coming up clutch for us again,” Robinson said.

“Jordan is always willing to do that,” Hononegah head coach Jason Brunke said. “Not only does it turn the ball over which is fantastic, but it also gives the team a burst of excitement and energy. That might have given us the momentum to help us finish it out.”

Robinson ended up hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 12 seconds left and that proved to be the final. The Titans’ offense was never in sync against the Indians. Only four Titans scored and Esparza was the only Boylan player in double figures with 14.

“Lily Esparza is always going to be the center of any of our defensive plans,” Brunke said. “We have to pay attention to her, but they have a couple shooters we had to be very cognizant of, too. We had to communicate with each other a lot, particularly when those shooters were on the same side of the court. We lost them a few times, but for the most part they were focused and locked in all game.”

The Indians have three road games this week to finish out their NIC-10 season. They play at Belvidere on Monday, at Belvidere North on Tuesday and at Rockford Jefferson on Thursday.

• HERSEY 46, HONONEGAH 40: One streak did end on Saturday. The Indians (24-4) had their overall nine-game winning streak snapped against host Hersey, who is coached by Hononegah grad Courtney (Weibel) Ludois.

In yet another defensive struggle in Arlington Heights, Dimke was the only Indian in double figures with 10 points. Johnston had nine and Robinson, Niedfeldt and Danielle Franz had six.

The Huskies, who lead the Mid-Suburban East Division at 9-1, improved to 20-8 overall. They were led by 6-3 senior Annika Manthy with 15 points and 5-7 sophomore Kate Donovan with 11.

“They’re big, physical and athletic,” Brunke said. “It’s good to see a team like that moving toward the postseason.”

Ludois, who led the nation in 3-pointers as a Hononegah senior and played at Marquette, said her team was looking for a game during a week-long layoff. Her father Randy was the long-time coach at Hononegah and attended Saturday’s game.

“I texted (Brunke) and Matt (Simpson, who was Randy Weibel’s assistant as well) and asked them if they would come here to play and they did,” Ludois said. “We’re trying to get it set up for a home-and-away series every year which would be so fun. That was really cool to have Hononegah come here.”

It’s a matter of opinion whether it was fun for the Indians, who were coming off their emotional win on Friday at Boylan.

“I’m sure it was also tough for them playing on a Saturday afternoon and having to travel over an hour to get here,” Ludois said. “But it’s great for both of us playing tough competition. Hononegah plays so differently than teams we generally see that you have to prepare for and adjust to it. I thought our kids played well.”

• BOXSCORES:

Friday

HONONEGAH 39, BOYLAN 33

Hononegah 9 14 6 10 — 39

R. Boylan 4 13 9 7 — 33

HONONEGAH (fg ft-fta pts) — Johnston 3 0-0 8, Robinson 3 3-5 10, Niedfeldt 2 5-6 11, Dimke 3 2-4 8, Simpson 0 2-3 2. Totals: 11 12-18 39.

ROCKFORD BOYLAN (fg ft-fta pts) — Marinaro 2 0-0 5, Petalber 3 0-0 8, Harter 2 0-0 6, Esparza 6 2-2 14. Totals: 13 2-2 33.

3-pt. Goals: Hono 5 (Johnsotn 2, Niedfeldt 2, Robinson), RB 5 (Harter 2, Petalber 2, Marinaro). Fouled out: none. Total fouls: Hono 10, RB 14.

Saturday

HERSEY 46, HONONEGAH 40

Hononegah 13 7 13 7 — 40

Hersey 16 6 16 8 — 46

HONONEGAH (fg ft-fta pts) — Johnston 2 4-4 9, Klabacha 1 0-0 3, Robinson 2 1-2 6, Franz 2 0-0 6, Niedfeldt 2 0-0 6, Dimke 4 0-0 10. Totals: 13 5-6 40.

HERSEY (fg ft-fta pts) — Donovan 3 4-4 11, Harwood 3 1-2 8, Craft 2 1-2 5, Manthy 5 5-10 15, Marks 3 1-2 7. Totals: 16 12-20 46.

3-point goals: Hono 9 (Dimke 2, Niedfeldt 2, Franz 2, Johnston, Klabacha, Robinson), Hersey 2 (Harwood, Donovan). Fouled out: none. Total fouls: Hono 15, Hersey 12.