Boys basketball: Rockford Lutheran shifts momentum with late third-quarter run, outlasts Dixon in fourth quarter for BNC win

Dixon’s Jath St.Pier looks to pass against Rockford Lutheran Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

DIXON – The Dixon Dukes led the Rockford Lutheran Crusaders by six points midway through the third quarter in Friday night’s Big Northern Conference game at Lancaster Gym.

But after forcing five turnovers in the last two minutes, the Crusaders (14-7, 3-0 BNC) scored 11 of the next 13 points, and took a three-point into the fourth quarter. With a mid-quarter scoring surge and two huge defensive stops in the final minute, Rockford Lutheran secured the 61-58 win.

“They were trapping us on the steals, which is kind of hard to deal with, and we just kept turning the ball over,” Dixon junior guard Austin Hicks said of the momentum-shifting third quarter. “Then they got all of the momentum and kept getting easy buckets down low.”

Down 61-58 in the final minute, Dixon had two chances to tie the game. Darius Harrington pulled up for 3 near the top of the key, but missed short on a well-contested shot with 11.7 seconds remaining. But the Dukes got the ball back and Hicks hoisted a desperation shot deep from the right wing as time expired. First it clanked off the backboard, then the rim, before bouncing to the floor.

“The one thing I love about this group of guys is they play through it the whole time. They don’t ever give up,” Dixon coach Chris Harmann said. “They showed that again tonight. A lot of resilience in that. We couldn’t get a stop we needed, or we couldn’t get one more bucket we needed at times, but they kept playing through it.”

The Dukes (14-8, 2-1 BNC) started the game red-hot shooting from deep, hitting their first four 3-point attempts to build a 14-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Cullen Shaner initiated the 3-point barrage with a right-wing catch-and-shoot in the first 35 seconds, then Harrington and Wyatt Wetzell swished shots from a similar position to go up 9-5 in the next minute.

Hicks connected from the right corner for the 14-8 lead at the 4:26 mark.

Dixon’s Austin Hicks drives the lane against Rockford Lutheran Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

But over the next four minutes, the Crusaders heated up. Walt Hill Jr. hit a left-wing 3 to pull Rockford Lutheran within 16-13 with 3:45 to go, then Marquise Haynes connected on a right-corner 3 to tie the game at 16 barely a minute later. Blake Broege pushed the lead to 21-16 with just over a minute left on a right-corner 3.

Dixon answered, as Jath St. Pier scored a layup off a Bryce Feit tip rebound, and Harrington dribbled behind his back, looped around a defender, and dropped in a layup with 11 seconds left to pull within 21-20 before the first quarter expired.

Vontez Dent scored four of the first six Rockford Lutheran points of the second quarter, getting a spinning post layup to fall at the 6:41 mark, then scoring on the fast break just under two minutes later for a 27-22 lead.

Shaner hit his second 3 from the left corner to make it a two-point game at the four-minute mark, and Feit cut the deficit to two again with a steal and coast-to-coast layup to draw within 29-27 with 2:30 left, but the Crusaders remained in control for the rest of the half.

Broege hit a pair of free throws with 1:20 to go, then swished a right-wing 3 just 17 seconds later to go up 34-27. With a Harrington layup just under the one-minute mark, and a Jason Zinke 3 in the final seconds, Dixon cut its deficit to 34-32 at the half.

Dixon’s Darius Harrington works against Rockford Lutheran’s Vontez Dent Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

The Dukes started the third quarter with a 10-2 run in the first 4:16. Harrington knotted the game at 34 with a spin into the lane and pump-fake layup in the first 25 seconds; Wetzell scored on a fast break started by a Feit block and Hicks rebound; Harrington finished a post layup through contact; and Hicks hit a pull-up mid-range jumper followed by a floater to make it 42-36 Dixon with 3:44 remaining.

“We normally have bad third quarters, so we just knew we had to come out and make our shots and get back in transition,” Hicks said. “They were getting most of their points in transition, so we had to get back on D. Kept it close throughout the whole game, just couldn’t finish the way we wanted to.”

Using a full-court press and on-ball double-teams, the Crusaders flustered Dixon. In the last two minutes, the Dukes turned the ball over five times – and fell behind 47-44 by the end of the quarter.

Hill sparked the 11-2 run with a steal and coast-to-coast layup around the two-minute mark, and Dent pushed Rockford Lutheran ahead 43-42 with a fast-break layup of his own just 37 seconds later.

“As you saw, we really didn’t shoot it the best that we can [in the first half]. They hit like six 3s in the first half. They came out firing them,” Hill said. “We just had to do something else. Play defense, lock down on defense like we did in the second half. Then we got the lead, and we just kept it.”

Dixon’s Bryce Feit handles the ball against Rockford Lutheran Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Hill stole an inbounds pass and laid it in for a three-point advantage, then Dent scored on the break again in the final minute, before Dixon committed a 5-second violation. But the Dukes drew within three again on a Matt Warkins buzzer-beater layup.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Hill hit a layup on a baseline drive for a six-point lead, then stole an inbounds pass and scored on the fast break for a 61-53 lead with 3:02 remaining.

Hicks split two defenders on a drive to the basket from the left wing, and got a layup to fall to pull within 61-58 with 55 seconds left, but the Dukes missed two free throws and two 3-pointers in the final minute.

Harrington led the Dukes with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three assists; Hicks tallied 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal; Shaner chipped in eight points; and Wetzell added seven points, three rebounds and two steals.

Hill and Broege paced the Crusaders with 15 points each, Dent scored 14 points, and Haynes added 12 points.

Dixon’s Wyatt Wetzell drives against Rockford Lutheran’s Blake Broege Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.
Dan Wussow

Dan Wussow

Dan is the sports editor for Sauk Valley Media. Previously, he wrote for The Post-Crescent in his hometown of Appleton, WI.