Girls basketball: Third-quarter run, late free throws help Rock Falls put away Rockford Christian

ROCK FALLS – The Rock Falls girls basketball team struggled with shooting in the first half, but its persistence on the glass paid off, it knocked down critical free throws, and it got stops down the stretch to close out a 46-41 win over Rockford Christian on Saturday afternoon at Tabor Gym.

The first quarter was tightly contested, as neither team could pull ahead by more than two points.

Rock Falls center Mallory Pinske scored six to facilitate an early advantage, and point guard Brooke Howard hit a buzzer-beater mid-range jumper to re-capture the Rockets’ lead at 14-12. After forward Claire Bickett broke a 17-17 tie with a free throw with 1:09 remaining in the second quarter, the Rockets (12-11, 3-3 Big Northern) never lost their lead again.

Rock Falls and Rockford Christian both struggled to put the ball in the basket in the second quarter, scoring a combined 12 points in the period. But the Rockets ultimately got the upper hand with a 21-17 lead at half.

Rock Falls’ 18-12 rebounding advantage was a big factor in the first half.

“I think we knew that we couldn’t let them get more than one shot, because they would end up making it, and we weren’t converting our shots,” Pinske said. “So rebounding was super important to be able to keep the score even and be able to push toward the second half.”

Said Rock Falls coach Dan Herrera: “We always expect, for the most part, that we’ll have that advantage on the boards, because we do have some size over most teams. And it’s always one of those keys or one of those emphasis points we try to make, is we want to win the boards. Because on the defensive end, we can kill their possession, or on the offensive end, we can keep the possession alive. One or the other. So sometimes we can score off of that.”

In the third quarter, Rock Falls seized most of the momentum with a 9-0 run, beginning about three minutes in with a Pinske mid-range jumper off an inbounds pass. Howard capitalized on a steal and fast-break opportunity on the next possession, veering around a defender to lay it in for a 25-19 lead.

Over the next two minutes, shooting guard Jacee Sigel hit a free throw, Pinske knocked down a post fadeaway jump shot, and forward Taylor Reyna made a free throw to put the Rockets up 30-19.

“Obviously, we needed those nine points. For sure, we needed that 9-0 run, because it got tight at the end,” Herrera said. “So yeah, it was huge. I told these girls, ‘This is your ballgame to win,’ and then they found a way to do that tonight.”

Added Pinske: “At the second half, it was still super close. Sort of pushing the third quarter to get that lead for good, especially when shots started to not fall in the third quarter and they started to come back. So it was good to get that lead, so we could stay calm when they started to come back.”

Rock Falls held a lead of seven or more points for the next two minutes, but Rockford Christian was able to cut its deficit to 34-29 by the end of the quarter.

In the fourth, the Royal Lions threatened to take back the lead with a few small runs, but Rock Falls always had an answer any time they pulled within four points.

Rockford Christian’s Courtney Park hit two free throws with 5:38 on the clock to bring the deficit to 36-31, then Kaitlin Park drilled a 3 with about two minutes left to make it 40-36.

Bickett went 2-for-2 at the line about 30 seconds later to stretch the Rock Falls lead to 44-36, but Courtney Park made an and-1 layup 30 seconds after that to cut the deficit back to five points.

After a Howard free throw increased the lead to six, Nina Salamone dribbled between two defenders and converted a layup to make it a 45-41 game with about 30 seconds left. Courtney Park got a steal with about 10 seconds left, but Rockford Christian couldn’t capitalize with a basket. Sigel hit one final free throw with 0.6 seconds on the clock to cap the scoring.

Pinske led the Rockets with 12 points and four rebounds, Reyna finished with 11 points and four rebounds, Howard tallied nine points, five rebounds and three steals, and Bickett added eight points and eight rebounds.

“... Taylor Reyna, she did a tremendous, tremendous job off the bench. She’s one of those kids that brings the energy, and she’s always ready when her number is called,” Herrera said. “Today, she got to the free throw line, made some big free throws. Had a couple big rebounds, I believe, in there. But gave us some great minutes out there when she was on the floor.”

Courtney Park and Kaitlin Park paced Rockford Christian with 12 points each.