Mark February 6 on your girls basketball calendar

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Mark February 6 on your girls basketball calendar. That is when Byron and Stillman Valley meet in round 2 of what promises to be a thrilling rematch of their championship game of the recently played KB tournament.

Stillman Valley beat Byron 45-40 to take the title at Dixon, this after finishing second to Rock Island Alleman last year. Like the rest of tourney action, it was defense taking center stage, as baskets were extremely difficult to come by.

In watching the state-ranked royalty (61-1 combined record) of SV vs Sterling and Byron vs Dixon in the semifinals, the team playing the toughest defense prevailed.

The Cardinals survived a first-half scoring drought and banging on the boards by phsyical Sterling to win 47-37. Aided by 3-point shooting, it was 10 straight SV points to take a 16-13 lead.

Going into the fourth quarter, it was a narrow 28-27 lead before the Cardinals poured it on the final stanza for the win over the No. 11 team in 3A.

On paper, Byron had a tougher task with undefeated Dixon, ranked No. 1 in the 3A Associated Press poll. A combination of early Dixon foul trouble, Byron outhustling the Duchesses for loose balls and forcing turnovers led to a 20-6 halftime lead.

So dominant were the Tigers on defense that Dixon did not make a field goal until the third quarter. For emphasis, that bears repeating.

Byron held to No. 1-ranked team in 3A to zero field goals in the first half.

Final score was 50-33, setting up the heavyweight 2A title match, while the 3A schools had to settle for the third-place game, which was won by Sterling 44-18. Not sure what Dixon did to merit a No. 1 ranking, but that will go by the wayside.

On a sidenote, Sterling played the No. 8 team in 1A (Pecatonica), the No. 3 in 2A and No. 1 in 3A at the KSB, which is the longest-running girls holiday tournament in the state at 46 years. Speaking of history, Sterling has the distinction of being the first-ever girls high-school basketball champion (1977) in Illinois.

No doubt, Stillman Valley will at least retain its No. 3 A.P. state ranking, while Byron has done enough to move into the top 10 from No. 11.

Breese Central and Nashville, the top teams in 2A met Saturday and Breese won 33-29. A commonality between BC/Nashville and Byron/SV is geographically positioned in the same sub-sectionals.

With Byron and SV only 5 miles apart, that is usually going to be the case. Down south, Nashville and Breese are a bit farther apart at 30 miles. They must play pretty good basketball in Breese, as Breese Mater Dei was school to knocked off Byron in the 2023 state championship.

The super-sectional complex that Byron and SV are in might be toughest in the state with defending state champ Peoria Notre Dame and highly-regarding Aurora Central Catholic, Rock Island Alleman and Sherrard.

At the Rockford Boylan tournament, a stat of note was the 46 points scored by Laney Calhoon of Orangeville in a win over Beloit Memorial. She tallied 33 in the first half.

Even after graduating 6-foot-4 all-stater Whitney Sullivan (Cahoon’s cousin), Orangeville is ranked No. 5 in 1A. In defeating Beloit Memorial, it was a win by a school of 102 students against one of 1,700.

It is much more common for smaller schools to beat larger ones in girls basketball than in boys. Earlier this season, Stillman Valley put a 46-33 whipping on Orangeville.

Before returning home to check out the local girls B-Ball scene, I had the chance to watch my granddaughter play a grade-school basketball game in Utah.

Here is what stood out most to me - prior to the tip-off, the home coach addressed the fans and stressed the importance of sportsmanship. She said anyone verbally harassing an official would promptly be asked to leave the gym. If that person failed to comply, the game would end in a forfeit to the opposing team.

When the potential exists to be a source of embarrassment to your children or grandchildren, it is much easier to keep one’s lip zipped. All were behaved throughout the contest.

Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.