Johnsburg came into its Kishwaukee River Conference showdown against Richmond-Burton not playing good basketball, coach Mike Toussaint said, and facing one of the hottest teams in McHenry County.

Furthermore, Tousaaint said his nephew, senior point guard Trey Toussaint, had been in a rut.

Funny how playing a rival will reverse a trend.

Like his team, Trey Toussaint started hot and never cooled off Tuesday night in Richmond. He scored a career-high 27 points, as Johnsburg blew out R-B for the second time this season, 78-50, in front of a packed and loud crowd.

The win put Johnsburg (15-9, 7-1 KRC) in sole possession of first place in the KRC, while dropping R-B (16-6, 6-2) a game back.

“Rivalry [game], and it’s always a good feeling with all of the students here,” Trey Toussaint said. “It’s just a good environment to play in.”

Jayce Schmitt added 18 points, including four of Johnsburg’s 15 3-pointers, and grabbed nine rebounds. The Skyhawks came in having lost three of their past five games.

Trey Toussaint took over the game a couple of minutes in. He scored six straight points, including a 3-pointer, to ignite a 13-0 run. His 10 points in the first quarter had the Skyhawks up 20-9, and the visitors never let up.

Toussaint was coming off a 21-point effort in Johnsburg’s 91-54 rout of Harvard on Saturday night. He had a 25-point effort at Sandwich on Dec. 12.

“He was in a little rut,” Mike Toussaint said. “He was playing well around Christmas time [all-tournament at Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic]. You give him a little freedom, and when he gets his shoulders square, he’s a pretty good shooter, and he handles the ball pretty well.”

Toussaint’s 17 points (two 3s) helped Johnsburg extend its lead to 42-24 by halftime.

“The shots have been falling [the past two games],” said Trey Toussaint, who made four 3s. “I’m way more confident, and they’re big conference games that we need, so you got to win them.”

Luke Robinson had 17 points and five rebounds to pace R-B, which had won 13 of its past 14 games.

“We had [starters] Ray [Hannemann] and Jace [Nelson] coming off sickness, so I don’t think that helped us at all,” Robinson said. “We played probably our worst game of the year. [Johnsburg] just ran us out of the gym, shot us out of the gym. We played terrible.”

Nelson had 11 points, including a fourth-quarter dunk, and six rebounds, but Rockets high-scoring guard Gavin Radmer did not score.

When the teams met Dec. 9, it was the first time R-B played without Radmer, who injured his wrist and elbow in the Rockets’ previous game and was sidelined for a month.

The Rockets had won nine of their past 10 games coming in since Radmer’s return. Included was a 68-57 win at Plano on Saturday in which Radmer scored 29 points.

He shot 0 of 6 from the floor against Johnsburg’s zone and attempted only one shot after halftime. Radmer did have five rebounds and three steals.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Mike Toussaint said. “We talked about him. He was a focus at practice the last couple of days.”

Mike Toussaint said he was unaware that Radmer did not score.

“We were fully aware of it,” Rockets coach Rich Petska said. “We’re preaching inside-out offense, and the shots will be there. [Johnsburg] did a good job of shading him and containing him. He just couldn’t get into the flow.”

Robinson tried to keep R-B in the game. He flew through the lane to score on an offensive rebound late in the third quarter to get R-B to within 54-39. But Johnsburg responded with a 3-pointer from Josh Kaunas and Toussaint’s buzzer-beating runner to hike the Skyhawks’ lead to 20 entering the fourth.

Johnsburg shot 15 of 38 (39%) from 3-point range and led by as many as 31 late.

“I feel like every time we got two, they got three,” Robinson said. “We did something good, and then they did two things good. I just don’t think we got on any sustained runs, and they were on a run all game.”

Kaunas finished with 11 points (three 3s), eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals.

“I think he’s the best defensive player probably in northern Illinois,” Mike Toussaint said of Kaunas, his 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward. “He can guard point guards, he can guard centers. When we go zone, it’s nice to have him back there to protect the rim.”

Wes Gardner and Dane Gardner each had nine points for R-B.

Ashton Stern (nine points, seven rebounds) added three 3-pointers for Johnsburg, and Brady Fisher drained one coming off the bench.