It wasn’t necessarily what Corky Card saw that had him encouraged about his McHenry boys basketball team’s ability to rally after spotting Burlington Central a double-digit lead in the first quarter.

It was what he didn’t see.

McHenry’s players weren’t whining, which meant they hadn’t given up hope of winning.

“I don’t want to see the palms of your hands,” said Card, McHenry’s coach.

At game’s end Friday night, the Warriors’ hands were up, high-fiving.

Nathan Ottaway scored a game-high 19 points, Adam Anwar came alive in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 15 points, and McHenry got its first Fox Valley Conference win of the season, 53-47 over the visiting Rockets.

“We just know if we can play our style of basketball, it will give us the win,” Ottaway said. “So even when we go down a little, we know we’ll come right back up. There’s no reason for us to get down on ourselves.”

After one quarter, McHenry (4-2, 1-1) trailed 16-6.

“I knew we were going to be fine because of our kids’ body language, even though things were not going well,” Card said. “Our kids did a nice job of just hanging in there. I didn’t know if we were going to win, but I thought we were going to have a chance at the end.”

Despite seeing McHenry take a 21-20 lead late in the first half, Central (3-2, 1-1) had a 26-23 lead at the break. The Rockets made only 6 of 11 free throws in the second quarter but held the 6-foot-7 Anwar to zero field goals (0-of-4 shooting) and only five points (5 of 8 from the stripe).

Bennek Braden, a 6-2 junior who came off the bench last season, led Central with 12 points, including 10 (two 3s) in the first quarter. He was busy on the defensive too guarding Anwar, who was swarmed once he touched the ball in or near the lane.

“Just pushing him out of the paint and having my teammates to help when he got the ball,” Braden said of the Rockets’ defensive plan on Anwar. “We just wanted to push him off his spot and have teammates crash him when he got the ball.”

McHenry, which shared the FVC title last season with Crystal Lake South, graduated six of its top seven scorers from last season. Anwar is the only returning starter after averaging 18.2 points a game.

“Adam is one of the better players in the state, so obviously people are going to load to him,” Card said. “That’s what he has seen every game. It’s a learning curve for him. We’re in the process of trying to figure out how it’s going to work for him. It’s nice to know that he doesn’t have to get 20 for us to win.”

The Warriors led 49-38 after Anwar made two free throws with 3:18 left in the fourth. The Rockets responded with a 6-0 run, but Dane Currie (five points) made 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to allow the Warriors to bounce back from their loss to Huntley two nights earlier.

The 6-6, 200-pound Ottaway, who opened the fourth with an uncontested layup after a sideline pass from Blake Renfro, said his plan of attack this season is to take the ball to the basket strong and get to the free-throw line. The junior shot 6 of 9 from the floor, including his lone three-point attempt.

“I put in the work over the summer,” Ottaway said. “I got better in AAU, I’m being more aggressive and listening to my coaches. We have great coaches here.”

Anwar finally hit his first shot on a post-up move that resulted in a three-point play to hike the Warriors’ lead to 34-29 with 4:29 left in the third. He buried a right-wing 3 and muscled in a shot later in the quarter.

“This was, by far, the most attention I’ve gotten,” Anwar said. “They just packed the lane and immediately double-, triple-teamed. The biggest thing that I have to keep working on – and I think I did a solid job tonight – is just staying poised in those situations and staying low. If there are opportunities where I can pass or where I can take a certain shot, I just need to not overthink that.“

Patrick Magan and Cash Cumpata each had nine points for Central. Declan Wilson, a 6-6 freshman forward, grabbed nine rebounds (five offensive) and scored four points.

“We’re extremely young and just lack some offensive toughness,” Rockets coach Brett Porto said. “We’re undersized, but we’re improving. Today was a step in the right direction, just not in the won-lost column.”