Hinckley-Big Rock girls pull away late from Hiawatha

HINCKLEY – The Hinckley-Big Rock Royals pulled away late to put away the Hiawatha Hawks 38-26.

The Royals went on a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter before Hawks’ junior Gianna Bottom nailed a 3-pointer for Hiawatha’s first score of the period with 3:17 left.

“It was a sigh of relief,” Royals coach Doug Brewington said. “We did just enough in the first three quarters to keep the lead. We never found that energy piece. It was like a hundred pounds came off my shoulders midway through that fourth quarter.”

Neither team could get much going offensively until the Royals started running down the court on the fast break.

The Royals (6-1, 1-0 Little 10) were up 21-18 at the start of the fourth quarter when Tessa Prellberg started grabbing rebounds and found a streaking Ashleigh Wackerlin, resulting in a series of quick transition buckets.

“It felt good because that’s how we are as a team, we want to run,” Prellberg said. “It felt good making plays as a team.”

Prellberg led the team in scoring with 16 points despite a poor shooting night. Wackerlin added 11 points, including going 7-10 from the charity stripe.

Both teams held their own on defense until the Royals broke it open in the final frame.

The Royals held the Hawks without a field goal in the second quarter, allowing only two free throws by Daisy Montiel.

“Our shots were just not falling,” Montiel said. “It’s unlucky.”

Montiel paced the Hawks in scoring with 11 points.

The Hawks (2-7, 0-2) put pressure on Prellberg, the Royals leading scorer, and forced the rest of the team to beat them.

“We had two people watching (Prellberg), sometimes three, so she wouldn’t go off,” Hiawatha coach Fred Linker said. “I think we did a fairly good job of it.”

The plan worked for three quarters, as the Royals scored seven points in each of the first three quarters before erupting for 17 in the fourth.

“We’re going to have to win the ugly ones,” Brewington said.

By the numbers: For the Royals, Sydney Razo-Ewan scored five points. For the Hawks, Quarey Weikal had four points.

Beyond the stats:  Razo-Ewan was the spark off the bench to start the scoring in the fourth quarter, knocking down two quick shots to get the offense moving.

They said it: "Syd (Razo-Ewan) coming of the bench, she does provide that spark," Brewington said. "She just has that sixth man mentality. She can morph herself into what we need. She can come in and hit jump shots. She can come in and play lock down defense."

Up next: Hiawatha travels to DePue on Monday at 730 p.m. The Royals play at Faith Christian (Dixon) on Friday at 5 p.m.