Christian Irslinger, Richmond-Burton outlast Woodstock

WOODSTOCK – Christian Irslinger brought more than basketball skills and athleticism to Richmond-Burton when he transferred from Wilmot Union in Wisconsin this year.

He brought energy and personality.

“I’ve always been an animated kid,” Irslinger said. “I love putting on a show. That’s always been my thing.”

Richmond-Burton and Woodstock put on a good show Wednesday night in their Kishwaukee River Conference showdown. Luke Robinson sank clutch free throws in the final minute and scored 16 points, Irslinger had five of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Richmond-Burton pulled out a 52-47 win.

The Rockets (6-1, 2-1 KRC) ran their winning streak to four games, while the Blue Streaks (4-5, 2-1) saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

R-B held sophomore guard Max Beard to a season-low 12 points. Beard, who was guarded by Irslinger most of the second half, came in averaging 21.6 points per game. He shot early and often but missed his first four attempts, three from 3-point range, and never found his stroke until the fourth quarter.

“Way tougher [tonight],” said Beard, who grabbed nine rebounds but made just 5 of 21 shots from the floor. “I couldn’t get going. It was rough. I just got to worry about form more, getting the shot up.”

Irslinger, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, couldn’t find his shot either early on, in part because of the defense applied to him by the Blue Streaks' Anthony Grzertic. Irslinger voiced his displeasure a couple times on the court, and after he blocked a shot by Beard on the baseline in the fourth quarter he apparently got too animated and was whistled for a technical foul.

Regardless, he made a positive impact on the court, especially in the second half. He scored on a drive and then sank a 12-footer after grabbing a long rebound to put the Rockets up 41-36 after three.

Woodstock pulled even at 43-43 with less than five minutes left in the fourth, but Irslinger’s three-point play and his spin and scoop gave R-B a 48-43 lead with 2:28 to go.

“Tonight was a rough one,” said Irslinger, who scored 31 points against North Boone and 22 against Harvard last week. “I didn’t feel I was getting it going my way, but it happens. We came out tonight and got the ‘Dub’ and that’s all that matters.”

“We’ve spent a lot of time talking to him about keeping those emotions under control,” Rockets coach Rich Petska said of Irslinger. “He’s done a tremendous job for us this year.”

Woodstock senior guard Collin Greenlee (team-high 16 points) knocked down four of his five 3-pointers in the first half, and the hosts trailed 29-28. R-B then switched from its 1-2-2 zone to a man-to-man defense for the second half.

“We had to switch out of it because they’re so well-coached, and they were kind of picking the zone apart a little bit,” Petska said. “But we play some pretty tough man to man too.”

Blue Streaks coach Ryan Starnes thought it would be beneficial to his team after R-B ditched its 1-2-2 zone.

“That’s kind of what they’re known for,” Starnes said. “They’re long, and they’re athletic, so when they went man I was secretly kind of happy. I thought we were in a good spot. But their man defense really sped us up, and we took some poor shots. We didn’t run our normal motion offense the way that we’re capable of running it, and they got in our heads a little bit with their physicality.”

Beard finally made his first 3-pointer early in the fourth, and sank his second with 1:05 left to get Woodstock within 48-47.

But the Blue Streaks didn’t score again.

“He’s always going to have the green light to keep shooting,” Starnes said of Beard. “It wasn’t falling for him tonight but, man, he’s a competitor. I thought he played his best game defensively tonight. Which is a credit to him because we watch a lot of film with his defense, and it’s getting better.”

Robinson, a 6-5 junior, went 4 of 4 from the foul line in the final 47 seconds to ice the win for R-B. Senior guard Gavin Radmer and 6-6 sophomore forward Jace Nelson added nine and eight points, respectively, for the Rockets. Nelson also had 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

“He does so many things well for us when it comes to rebounding, rotations on defense, shot-blocking,” Petska said of Nelson. “He is an ‘X’ factor for us. We don’t need him to score 20 a game because he is impacting the game in so many ways.”

Woodstock freshman forward Liam Laidig had eight points and six rebounds. Joseph Nitz grabbed eight rebounds coming off the bench.