Here are three reasons why Rochester took the regional title against Springfield High

ROCHESTER — If it seemed like a lopsided game after the first quarter, the second quarter solidified it.

Rochester held Springfield High scoreless in the second period en route to a 44-21 win to take the Class 3A Rochester Regional girls basketball championship on Thursday at the Rochester Athletic Complex.

The regional champion Rockets (26-7) will stay put and face Friday’s winner between Mahomet-Seymour (23-9) and Normal West (12-17) in the Rochester Sectional semifinals on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Mahomet-Seymour beat Normal West 56-30 on Jan. 5 at home.

The sectional lineup could include Lincoln, the No. 2-ranked team in the final Associated Press Class 3A statewide poll. Lincoln is 31-0 before Friday’s Bloomington Regional title game with Champaign Central. Another 20-win team, Mount Zion (22-8) faces Chatham Glenwood (16-15) in the Decatur Eisenhower Regional championship game on Friday.

“That’s why we’re here in 3A,” Rochester point guard Kaylen Reed said. “We’re not here for an easy road; we’re here for a battle. It’s on our home floor so I’m thinking people are going to have to say, ‘We’re playing Rochester’ too.”

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Rochester seniors Emma Dixon and Reed teamed up for 30 points on a combined 14-for-24 shooting in the win. The Rockets led at one point 30-4 while Springfield High was mired in a 14 minute, 24 second scoreless slump.

But how did the Central State Eight Conference champion Rockets dominate the third meeting between the two teams and cruise to their eighth regional title in coach J.R. Boudouris’ 12th season? Here are some key takeaways.

Suffocating defense

Springfield High (18-15) committed 13 and shot just 2 of 16 in the first half. Rochester led 24-4 at the break and the Senators hadn’t scored since Zakiyah Lott drove to the basket with 2:16 left in the opening quarter.

“We’ve got a couple of variations of our traps we can run and … I felt we did a nice job mixing it up and making the right read in terms of when to go and rotating behind it,” Boudouris said. “Even when we didn’t create a steal, we created some poor decision-making (that led) to turnovers.”

Boudouris’ teams, from Carrollton to Pana and Rochester, have employed a frenetic defense that causes turnovers and confusion. His teams have been to three state tournaments using that defense, including two runner-up finishes at Rochester.

“We always preach defense first,” said the 6-foot forward Dixon. “We’re a defensive team so that’s always the goal because after defense, offense will just happen.”

Springfield High was 0-for-8 shooting in the second period but Senators’ coach Brad Scheffler, himself a four-time state tournament finalist, thought a lot of the issues started with his team.

“We just lacked aggression,” Scheffler said. “We weren’t ready to play tonight. I came in the locker room and we had girls who weren’t ready to roll tonight. I don’t know what was going on but I guess that’s on me.

“I thought we came out and had the right game plan but (Rochester) didn’t miss any shots and we didn’t make any shots early. We settled for too many jumpers outside, we didn’t get the ball to the basket and finish. We didn’t get it inside. Against good teams that play good defense, you’ve got to be able to get to the rim and get to the free-throw line.”

Springfield High didn’t shoot a free throw until 3:03 into the third.

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Getting to the rim

Dixon led the Rockets with 16 points and was 7-for-10 from the floor. She got points on putback baskets, turnaround jumpers in the paint and layups led by Reed passes.

Reed, who scored 14 points, got her first two buckets on jumpers but then mostly cut behind the Springfield High defense where Dixon would feed her from the high post. Reed’s last two baskets were reverse layups.

Dixon and Reed have an innate awareness with each other, Dixon said.

“I started playing with Kaylen Reed when I moved here in second grade (from Indiana) and ever since then she’s been amazing at not only creating shots for herself but creating shots for other players,” Dixon said.

“With communication comes trust in each other and that’s when all those cuts happen. We can just read and know when one another’s going to do that. Another thing I’m proud of is our communication. We struggle when we don’t communicate and have good leadership on the court. When we have our players like Kaylen Reed, leadership is out there and that’s what we need.”

Rochester’s lone Central State Eight loss came on Feb. 3 against Sacred Heart-Griffin when Reed was out with a sprained ankle. But Reed said some positives came from that game.

“Other players have stepped up since then,” Reed said. “I feel like Taylor Offer’s really gone on a roll and Emma Dixon has really stepped up as a leader.”

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Boudouris said the first half was the best 16-minute stretch the Rockets have played this season.

“I don’t think we played poorly in the second half, it’s just hard to sustain that level for 32 minutes,” Boudouris said. “The way we defended, the pressure, the rotations in our press, creating turnovers, executing our half-court offense ... I don’t know if we could’ve played a better first half.”

Deficit too big despite better second half

Springfield High got to the free-throw line 11 times in the second half and outscored Rochester 12-10 in the final quarter. But it was far too little and much too late for the Senators.

“They’re up on you but you have to be able to get by somebody and score, get it inside to a post player to be able to score,” Scheffler said of the first half. “We tell our posts they’ve got to be able to score 1-on-1 and the guards have to be able to take a 1-on-1 matchup and make a basket. We’re young and we’ll get better and we’ll get stronger.

“It was a tough one because the second half, I thought we competed. It was a better showing but we didn’t finish our free throws and our layups.”

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The Senators were 3-for-11 at the free-throw line to go with a 9-for-38 shooting night. Keziah Toran led SHS with five points while Emma Scheffler and Aniyah Rhinehouse each had four points.

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rochester cruises to 3A regional championship