Corliss calms the Storm at DeKalb

DEKALB — Bureau Valley has weathered a lot postseason storms, down 11-2 and 16-5 to Spring Valley Hall in the regional championship, falling behind 12-0 and 15-2 to Orion in the sectional semifinals and 18-10 to Sterling Newman in the sectional finals.

The Storm had not seen such a fury quite like Chicago Corliss, however.

The Trojans scored the first 17 points of the game and led as much as 25 points (40-15) on the way to a 60-45 triumph over the Storm in Tuesday's DeKalb 2A Super-Sectional at the Convocation Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University.

Tears flowed freely in the Storm locker room as the realization of the season-ending loss sank in.

"Coach J (Craig Johnson) told us don't cry because it was over, smile because it happened," BV senior Kale Barnett said.

What happened was the Storm (21-11) won their first sectional championship in 17 years and advanced to the Elite Eight, falling just one step away from making it back to state for the first time since 2002.

Corliss captured its first super-sectional victory to advance to state for the first time. The Trojans (21-10) will face Chicago Public Schools rival Orr at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Carver Arena in Peoria.

'It's school history for Corliss. We're excited," coach Harvey Jones said.

When assessing Corliss' early assault, BV coach Jason Marquis said it was obvious "whatever you game planned, A, it didn't work, and B, you had to throw it out the window."

Trailing 34-15 at the half and 40-15 early in the third qiuarter, the Storm found a spark, scoring 10 straight to close within 40-25 at the 3:00 mark. They wound up playing the Trojans even the third quarter (17-17) and found themselves down by 19 points at quarter's end at 51-32.

A free throw by Tyler Gustafson and a 3-point play by Nate Paup brought the Storm within 51-36 early in the fourth quarter.

Two putbacks by Noah Simon and a hoop by Gustafson made it 57-44 before Marquis cleared his bench with just over a minute to play.

Barnett led the Storm with 18 points (8-16 from the field) and nine rebounds.

Simon, a foreign exchange student, scored 12 points, playing in front of his father, Patrik, who flew in from their native Germany for the game.

Gustafson chipped in 11 points.

Dhason Dyson led Corliss with 19 points and Joseph Doyle added 12.

See more in Saturday's BCR.