When Rochelle needed big defensive stops to close out a double-overtime thriller with Dundee-Crown, the Hubs turned to 6-foot-5 forward Brody Bruns and 6-foot-7 forward Warren Schweitzer.

The towering tandem imposed its will in both the overtime and double-overtime periods, sending balls away from the basket and keeping the Chargers off the scoreboard. D-C delivered clutch shots to extend the game, but the Hubs emerged victorious, outlasting the Chargers 70-66 to tip off the annual Leland G. Strombom Tournament at Sycamore High School on Wednesday.

“It’s a good win to start out the season,” said Bruns, who scored a team-high 33 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking four shots in the game. “Was it perfect? No. But we’re going to make a lot of improvements off this game. We had to settle in and we knew we’d be a little rusty since it was our first game in a long time.”

Facing a deficit late in the fourth quarter, D-C drilled huge 3-point shots to send the game to overtime. Shortly after senior guard Kadin Malone put home a triple, junior guard Anthony Spain converted a 3-pointer on an out-of-bounds play to give the Chargers a two-point lead with less than 22 seconds remaining.

“Last year, I was a sophomore on varsity and I would’ve been afraid to take that shot,” said Spain, who finished with 18 points, three rebounds and two assists. “My coach trusted me and my team set up a good play. They set me a screen and I was wide open off the shot. It was an exhilarating shot and it felt amazing. I started kind of slow, but my teammates kept trusting me with the ball.”

Bruns missed a potential game-tying layup, but the junior followed his shot and put back a layup to tie the game at 56-56 and force overtime. With Bruns fueling the offense, Rochelle (1-0) held a three-point lead near the end of the first four-minute overtime.

But D-C (0-1) refused to back down, as Rasheed Trice drilled a pivotal 3-point shot with under 12 seconds to play and pushed the game to a second overtime. Trice scored a team-high 27 points and added six rebounds for the Chargers, who kept pace with the Hubs despite being outrebounded 27-12 for the game.

“I saw my teammate go into the paint and my guy helped, so I slid over,” Trice said. “I told myself, ‘Shooters shoot,’ and I shot it and it went in. ... Last year, I didn’t really have confidence in myself and I didn’t want to score the ball. As I’ve developed and gained my confidence back ... my teammates want me to run offense and they want me to rebound. They want me to be as confident as I can be.”

Both Bruns and Schweitzer, who combined for eight blocks in the game, swatted away shots in double overtime to help the Hubs slip ahead and seal the victory. Sophomore guard Cohen Haedt, who finished with 13 points and three assists, put in a pair of free throws over the final seconds to put the game out of reach.

“It feels good to get one out of the way and get ready for the rest of the season,” said Schweitzer, who totaled eight points and 12 rebounds along with four blocks. “I’m working on getting boards so I can score off of that or kick it out. I felt like we could take the ball inside on them all day, and that’s what we tried to do.”

The Hubs opened the game on a 9-2 first-quarter run, with Bruns and Schweitzer using Rochelle’s size advantage to score inside on a smaller D-C defense. But smart defense, which included three charges drawn in the first quarter, enabled the Chargers to slowly work their way back and keep Rochelle from holding a big lead.

Facing a 31-26 halftime deficit, the Chargers leaned on their ball control and defense, which allowed D-C to prevent the Hubs from scoring off turnovers or in transition. The third quarter ended at 42-42, and with guards like Malone, who scored nine points, fighting on defense, the Chargers remained in the game.

“Our coach did point out our flaws, but it’s Thanksgiving time and he pointed out how there are a lot of things to be thankful for,” Spain said. “We scored a lot of points and it was a rough battle. It was a really hard game. Winning is hard, but losing is easy.”