February 23, 2002 11:29 PMRocks battle,
fall to Hubs
By Hank Sundeen, Dispatch/Argus
ROCHELLE -- Rock Island had a 37-point scoring surge in the fourth quarter of Saturday
night's regular-season finale against Rochelle, but it wasn't enough to keep the
21st-ranked Hubs from grabbing a 94-82 win at Rochelle's C.A. Hills Gymnasium.
The loss evens the Rocks' record at 12-12 heading into Tuesday's regional opener with
Geneseo. The second-seeded Hubs improve to 23-4 with a regional date with Minooka on
Wednesday night.
``There were a lot of times where we didn't quite do what we wanted to do with the ball
offensively in making them work,'' Rock Island coach Thom Sigel said. ``Some shots we got
after one pass, and we can get those anytime, and that gave them the chance to get the
game going up and down -- something we didn't want.
``We still have some mistakes that are frustrating, but we battled. We are doing some
nice things right now heading into next week and that's the best time of the year.''
Rochelle rolled early with junior Ben Rand hitting for six of his game-best 28 points
in the opening period to help Rochelle run to a 12-0 lead.
Wilson's bucket keyed a Rocky charge that brought the Islanders from a double-digit
deficit to 17-17 with 1:25 left in the frame. Wilson had seven points in the spree while
junior Brandin Smith knocked in a pair of buckets.
``I'm proud of the way the kids battled back,'' Sigel said. ``It shows they won't give
up and that's the kind of traits we like to see. It's been a tough stretch the four games,
but we have to take the positives from it and move on. It's a new slate next week.''
Wilson finished with 20 points to pace Rock Island's scoring while junior Brandin Smith
added 12 to the Rocks total.
Partman fuels RI sophs: Derrick Partman led four Rock Island players in double figures
as the Islanders dropped Rochelle, 81-71, in the season finale.
Partman finished with 25 points for the 20-3 Rocks. Nicholas Fleming had 22 and Terry
Evans and Nick Davis each fired in 10 apiece.
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