Boys basketball: Sterling trio dices Rock Falls defense in 30-point victory

STERLING – The Sterling Golden Warriors started Tuesday night’s nonconference game against rival Rock Falls at a blistering pace, scoring 25 first-quarter points to the Rockets’ 14. As the Warriors continued to feed the ball to Andre Klaver, Lucas Austin and JP Schilling over the next three quarters, Rock Falls simply ran out of answers, losing the rivalry game 85-55 in front a near-capacity crowd at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

Sterling’s stellar start was fueled largely by transition offense and efficient shooting. Schilling led the way in the first quarter with eight points on 3 for 4 shooting, with two 3-pointers; Klaver scored six points on drives to the basket.

Schilling’s first 3 from the left corner stretched the lead to 20-11 at the 1:34 mark; his second 3 from the left wing made it a 23-11 game about 45 seconds later. A Klaver drive-and-dish to Kael Ryan for a layup pushed the lead to 25-14 before the end of the quarter.

[ Photos from Sterling vs. Rock Falls boys basketball ]

“We started moving the ball really well, and we looked for open shots – we didn’t force anything crazy,” Austin said of the Warriors’ fast start. “So we just got open shots and knocked them down.”

The reeling Rockets battled back in the second quarter, but couldn’t quite keep up.

Austin got to the basket in the first 30 seconds, extending the Sterling lead to 27-14, but Rock Falls went on a 13-3 run to make it a three-point game. Gavin Sands sparked the run with a left-corner 3 at the 6:20 mark, cutting the deficit to 10 points; Aydan Goff made 2 of 3 free throws just over a minute later, drawing within 27-21, then Timmy Heald split a pair of defenders, finished a layup through contact, and converted the and-1 to make it a 30-27 game.

But the single-digit margin wouldn’t hold for long. Over the next three minutes, the Warriors went on an 11-4 run, fueled by six points from Schilling and five from Austin. An Austin 3 stretched the lead to 37-29 with 1:21 left, then an Austin layup pushed it to 41-31 in the final minute of the half.

The Warriors maintained their 10-point lead at the break.

“We have a lot of depth on our bench,” Austin said, commenting on how Sterling overcame first-half turnovers and foul trouble to take the lead. “Kaedon Phillips came in and played really well. He locked up.”

Sterling added to its double-digit lead in the third quarter, powered by a nine-point stretch from Klaver, who scored 14 in the second half. The 6-foot-3 junior guard attacked the basket early and often, converting two layups and sinking 5 of 7 free-throw attempts on four trips in the quarter.

“My teammates just hit me, really,” Klaver said of the scoring surge. “I ran in transition. Our defense really led to our offense.”

Schilling found a cutting Klaver for a 65-45 lead early in the fourth quarter, then Austin hit a pair of free throws and back-to-back 3s from the right and left corners midway through the period. The Warriors led 78-45 with 3:38 left.

“We kind of just started to let things go and let them get away with easy buckets instead of keeping up the intensity that we had in the first half,” Sands of the second half, where the Rockets were outscored 44-24.

With a 10-point lead at halftime, the Warriors knew they couldn’t afford to let up in the last 16 minutes.

“Our coach says games are won in the second half, especially in the first four minutes, so just knowing we had to come out throwing punches,” Klaver said. “Try to get in their heads as much as possible.”

Schilling sank a pair of free throws for an 80-51 lead as 3:05 remained, and Sterling’s starters came out shortly after.

Austin scored a game-high 26 points, shooting 4 for 4 from 3-point range, while pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking three shots. Klaver scored 20 points, snagged three rebounds and dished three assists, and Schilling scored 19 points, dished seven assists, rebounded five misses and nabbed two steals.

Sands scored 20 points, Goff had 15 points, and Devin Tanton-DeJesus added eight points and six rebounds for the Rockets.