Boys basketball: DeKalb storms in second half past Belvidere North, into Dayton final

DeKALB – The DeKalb Barbs came out of halftime on a mission in their Chuck Dayton Tournament semifinal game against Belvidere North.

The Barbs turned a five-point halftime deficit into a 23-point win, taking down the Blue Thunder 63-40.

“Really they took care of it at halftime,” DeKalb coach Mike Reynolds said. “They were mad. They took care of it. So that was kind of the key of the game.”

The Barbs outscored the Blue Thunder 25-6 in the third quarter with a flurry of big shots and defensive stops.

The Barbs took their first lead of the game when Davon Grant stole a pass at midcourt and thundered home a breakaway dunk to put the Barbs up 25-24 with 6:25 left in the third.

“It felt good,” Grant said. “The dunk put us up. It helped us get our energy up and got my mind right. It helped us progress with our energy for the rest of the game.”

Grant finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Barbs didn’t look back as Sean Reynolds hit two three-pointers in less than a minute as part of a 14-0 run to start the half.

“We came into the locker room and talked among ourselves,” Sean Reynolds said. “The second half we played like a unit and that’s how we should play all the time.”

Reynolds led all scorers with 16 points.

The Blue Thunder’s Braedon Brown hit a couple of free throws with 4:35 left for their first points of the half, but the Barbs kept on charging.

Eric Rosenow hit back-to-back threes after the free throws and the rout was on for the Barbs. Rosenow had 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists to fill out the stat sheet for the Barbs.

The Blue Thunder didn’t hit their first basket of the quarter until just over a minute and a half left.

“I think the difference was that we were engaged defensively,” Mike Reynolds said. “We’re defense first and we always have been. Our offense comes from our defense.”

Nathan Binkley and Adam Brown each had 10 points to lead the Blue Thunder.

The Barbs will take on Phillips in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.