Early lead boosts Newark

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:18AM

It would be an interesting proposition if Newark was only allowed to play offense in the first four minutes of each quarter.

No doubt, coach Rick Tollefson would not handicap his team in such a way, but if Thursday's Hinckley-Big Rock 1A Regional semifinal against Somonauk was any example, the Norsemen would still be in fine shape.

Top-seeded Newark opened the first quarter on a 13-0 run and the second quarter on a 14-0 run, blowing out the No. 5-seed Bobcats 86-42 to advance to Friday's 7:30 p.m. final against the Hinckley-Big Rock/Ottawa-Marquette winner.

"We've been playing really well," Norsemen coach Rick Tollefson said. "Unless we lay a super egg, the team that's going to beat us is going to have to play really well."

Newark senior Kyle Anderson scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second quarter, while dishing out six assists and grabbing six rebounds before exiting with the other starters midway through the third quarter.

"First quarter, I didn't really take my shots," Anderson said. "I was a little antsy last regional so I was trying to let it come to me and not take too many shots. I was just getting some open shots in the second and they were falling."

John Avery scored 16 and Jeremy Anderson had 14 for Newark (24-1), which was up 48-12 at halftime thanks to a stingy, trapping defense that forced 12 first half turnovers and an offense that consistently found the open man.

"We just had to come out and play our game the way we wanted to play," Avery said. "We went out and executed on offense and defense. We've stepped up our defense lately and our zone was working tonight with traps and rotations. We were right on cue with everything."

Gregory Hughes scored 10 off the bench for the Norsemen.

Dylan Wesolowski scored 13 for Somonauk (9-20) and Jake Krischel scored 10, but the points only truly came once Newark's starters were out.

A dismal 28 percent shooting at halftime (5-for-21 field goals) kept the Bobcats from putting any pressure on heavily-favored Newark.

"We wanted to get the ball inside and take the ball strong to the basket," Somonauk coach Ron Hunt said. "The first couple times down the court we took 3's and we weren't looking to do that. We didn't rebound either."

A 19-4 run to start the third quarter was all she wrote for the Bobcats as Newark picked up its third win of the year against its opponent.

Any team that faces Newark knows who Public Enemy No. 1 is and Somonauk failed to that extent, though it wasn't all on defensive breakdowns.

"They run good sets and get out and run the floor," Hunt said. "I think it stunned us a bit, but (Kyle) Anderson definitely showed why he's an all-stater."

Hinckley-Big Rock 68, Ottawa-Marquette 47: The third-seeded Royals fired on all cylinders in their 68-47 win Thursday night at the H-BR 1A Regional.

Zach Michels was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring 28 points as the recipient of six assists each by Bernie Conley and Jared Madden.

Conley scored 13 and Madden 10 as the Royals (16-13) ran out to a 19-2 lead to advance to face top seed Newark tonight.

Kipp Caputo scored 17 for No. 2 seed Marquette (18-10) and Zak Worsley had 12, but the Crusaders turnovers (14) limited their chances to come back, though three straight 3's by H-BR to start the third was just as brutal.

"These guys just came out and they were ready to go," Royals coach Bill Sambrookes said. "Tonight, we took care of the basketball. ... I was nervous with our lead, but we just kept answering."

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.