Veteran Rockets top Gators, advance at Classic

Veteran Rockets top Gators, advance @ Classic

@ Richmond, Erin Thomas poured in a game high 21 points for the Rockets (7-3) in a non-conference loss. Wilmot (Wis.) 62, RB 33 (NWHerald 12/14/11)

RB 53, GK 43 @ Richmond, Alex Callanan led the Rockets (6-2, 1-1) with 16 points, Erin Thomas scored 14 & Andrea Fox added 11 in a BNC Est Division win. (NWHerald 12/7/11)

@ Marengo, Erin Thomas scored 14 points with three three-pointers for the Rockets (5-1, 0-1) Marengo 56, RB 53 (NWHerald 12/3/11)

By ROSS JACOBSON - rjacobson@shawmedia.com

RICHMOND – Playing three games in less than 24 hours never was a worry for Richmond-Burton coach Melanie Hinz.

Having played in the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic in previous years and possessing a veteran team that starts all juniors and seniors, Hinz had no reservations about letting her top rotation play it out against Crystal Lake South in the second game of Saturday’s double-header.

The starters didn’t disappoint, leading the Rockets (9-4) in a 54-46 victory at home against the Gators.

The Rockets (9-4) defeated North Chicago, 63-46, in their first game and advanced to the second-place bracket. The Gators will play in the third-place bracket.

“We’ve played in this tournament so we’re used to how it goes,” R-B coach Melanie Hinz said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game and it was going to come down to the last couple minutes, so all I did was tell them to make sure they were keeping our pace and controlling the game.

“We should’ve won [Friday] if we would’ve not had so many turnovers so it would’ve been nice to be in the first-place pool,” Hinz said. “But I guess we can get the next-best.”

R-B jumped on the Gators (4-10) early, getting the ball inside to Andrea Fox for six points in the first quarter. But the 6-foot junior picked up her second foul with a minute to go, and South went to a full-court press. With Fox on the bench, South went on a 9-0 run to take a 19-15 lead midway through the second quarter. R-B responded with an 11-0 outburst of its own, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Erin Thomas and April Wanagas, to go up by seven, 30-15, at halftime.

After getting called for two fouls early in the third quarter, Fox again was limited on the court. However, Thomas picked up the scoring slack, nailing two deep three-pointers to put the Rockets up 11 late in the third quarter.

“It was hard to play without her and not having her in the paint was different,” Thomas said of Fox. “She’s such a big part of our team with her rebounding and shooting.”

Thomas led R-B with 17 points while Alex Callanan had 14 points and eight rebounds.

South finally took advantage in the paint as back-to-back layups from Sara Mickow made it a four-point game with six minutes to go. South twice cut the lead to one, but never could quite close the deficit, and R-B hit eight consecutive free throws down the stretch.

Stephanie Melone and Rachel Rasmussen each had 13 for the Gators.

“We’ll go back, look at the film and check the stats to see just how many [misses] were uncontested wide-open layups,” South coach Kyle McCaughn said. (NWHerald 12/17/11)