Kaneland’s second-half surge propels Knights into sectional final

ROCHELLE – Rockford Boylan’s plan to win Wednesday’s Class 3A Rochelle Sectional semifinal against Kaneland was to slow down the game’s pace.

The Titans’ first possession burned 90 seconds off the clock. The strategy worked in the first half with the Knights holding only a slim seven-point lead at the intermission, 26-19.

At halftime, Kaneland made adjustments that sped up the action and turned the momentum in the Knights’ favor for a 50-32 win.

Top-seeded Kaneland (31-1) will face second-seed Crystal Lake South (30-4) in Friday’s championship game. The two teams also met in a sectional championship last year, won by the Gators, 69-38.

“I thought they did a good job of trying to slow us down and keep the game low scoring in the first half. We found a way to scratch and claw and get some runs going in the second half,” Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. “We had to pick up the pace. They were keeping the ball out and had one-minute possessions.”

The lead see-sawed between the two teams during the first quarter with six lead changes. A Freddy Hassan putback at 2:53 put Kaneland in front for good, part of a 12-point effort for the Kaneland forward.

Starting the second quarter up by six points, the Knights were only able to increase their lead by one.

Kaneland picked up the pace in the third quarter, scoring 12 points to the Titan’s seven.

“Our bigs (forwards Freddy Hassan and Jeffrey Hassan) were guarding the Rockford guys who were bringing up the ball, so they were being pulled away from the basket,” Colombe said. ”So our bigs had to get out and pressure more. In the second half we did a better job of forcing the action. Plus, all of our guards played well defensively.”

Kaneland started the fourth quarter on a seven to two run to put the game away.

Rockford Boylan’s game plan was not a surprise

“Coming into this game, we had an idea that they would do that to try and wear us down,” said Marshawn Cocroft. “We had to make some arrangements to pressure and make them put the ball on the floor and try to turn the ball over. Also, when we got rebounds, we pushed the ball because they weren’t able to get back.”

Cocroft scored 10 of his game-high 15 points in the second half.

Christian Kennedy notched 11 points for the Titans. Teammate Alex Ambrose tallied nine

Rockford Boylan finished with a 6-27 record.

“When you have a four-win season heading into the postseason and you then win a regional and fight a really good team in the sectional, it’s pretty special,” Rockford Boylan coach Brett McAllister said.