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JOHNSBURG – Johnsburg played well in the first 14 minutes of the first half, never trailing Woodstock North and maintaining a lead of at least six points.
But the Skyhawks’ last two minutes of the half were perfect.
While they locked down the Thunder on defense, Ian Boal and Jacob Welch scored inside. Boal then hit a 3-pointer and Dylan Schmidt swished a buzzer-beating 3 to close with a 10-point run.
Johnsburg cruised through the second half for a 70-50 victory over the Thunder in their Kishwaukee River Conference game Wednesday.
“We found a rhythm offensively,” Skyhawks coach Mike Toussaint said. “We moved the ball, and we talk about catching it and swinging it and getting in a flow. When we get in a flow, we hit shots. Got those in-out 3s.
“It started on the defensive end. On the defensive end we played outstanding. Kyle Patterson and Jake Metze have made a difference for us defensively.”
Johnsburg (11-11, 3-1 KRC) desperately needed a win to not fall further behind Woodstock (9-10, 5-0) in the KRC standings. Boal hit 9 of 11 field goals, with five 3s, to lead the Skyhawks with 23 points. Schmidt scored 18 and grabbed 17 rebounds.
Boal hit an early 3 as Johnsburg jumped out 7-0. North (10-12, 2-1) cut it to 7-6 but never got that close again.
“I don’t know. I just kept hitting, so I kept shooting,” Boal said. “They kept falling. It was definitely our defense with Metze and Kyle Patterson getting a couple stops and some steals.
“We grabbed a lot of rebounds, and that helped us get down the court and get some points.”
Johnsburg, which has won eight of its past 11 games, hit six 3s in the first half and finished with 11.
“It started on the defensive end getting steals, and it just transferred to offense, and we were making shots and got the lead going,” Schmidt said. “We had to stay on No. 5, Cesar Ortiz, he’s their best player. We kind of glued to him, and everybody just helped on him.”
Metze drew the assignment of guarding Ortiz, who led North with 18 points but had to work for all of them. Metze closed the first quarter with a 3 with two seconds to go. Schmidt then closed the second with his 3 at the buzzer. Schmidt, a 6-foot-3 senior, also provided a highlight with a third-quarter dunk in some traffic.
“We couldn’t score, and I’ve never seen Boal shoot like that. He was lights out tonight,” Thunder coach Dale Jandron said. “They just outplayed us. They banged us from the word go. They wanted it more.
“They hit a bunch of 3s and got downhill on us a lot. They’re a pretty good team. We didn’t rebound or shoot very well. You have to climb out, down 16. If we’d have kept it to eight or 10, it might have been a different story.”
Ben Person added 12 points for the Skyhawks. Javion Rodriguez scored 11 for the Thunder.
Johnsburg 70, Woodstock North 50
WOODSTOCK NORTH (50)
Rodriguez 3 4-4 11, Ortiz 5 8-8 18, Chase 1 0-0 3, Salas 2 0-0 4, Blaksley 1 0-0 2, Filetti 0 0-0 0, Czischki 0 0-0 0, Amoo 0 0-0 0, Ward 2 0-2 4, Schwarz 1 0-0 3, Falade 0 0-0 0, Given 0 0-0 0, Schwoch 1 0-0 3, Morey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 12-15 50.
JOHNSBURG (70)
Metz 2 0-0 6, Schmidt 6 4-4 18, Boal 9 0-0 23, Schmitt 1 0-0 2, Welch 2 0-0 4, Person 4 2-2 12, Pattrson 1 1-2 3, Groves 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0, Schaefer 1 0-0 2, Home 0 0-0 0, Mascote 0 0-0 0, Grons 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 7-8 70.
Woodstock North 11 8 14 17 – 50
Johnsburg 18 17 17 18 – 70
3-point goals: Woodstock North 4 (Rodriguez, Chase, Schwarz, Schwoch), Johnburg 11 (Boal 5, Schmidt 2, Metze 2, Person 2). Total fouls: Woodstock North 10, Johnsburg 14.