Royals hitting on all cylinders

HINCKLEY -- Somonauk's Katie Kuykendall got the first basket of the game.

That was the highlight for the Bobcats. From that point, Hinckley-Big Rock did pretty much whatever it wanted, cruising to a 76-12 victory in Little Ten Conference action.

Jenna Thorp led nine Royals into the scoring column with 17 points.

H-BR improved to 16-2 overall and 4-1 in the LTC with the easy triumph.

The Royals are a coach's dream -- talented, experienced, yet not a senior on the squad. While it may seem otherwise looking at the ages on the Royal roster, the future is now for a team that went deep into the postseason last year with many of the same players.

H-BR is coming off a championship in the Prophetstown Christmas tournament and appears to be directing its energy toward preparing for this year's postseason.

After Kuykendall's opening bucket, Hinckley-Big Rock sprinted to a 39-5 lead at halftime. The Royals' zone defense simply wouldn't allow Somonauk (1-11, 0-4) a decent shot at the basket.

Thorp, only a sophomore at 5-foot-10, had 11 of her points in the first quarter, as the Royals starters only played in the first and third periods.

"We handled the basics, got some easy scores on the fastbreak and ran our offense pretty well," said Hinckley-Big Rock coach Larry Peppers, who is in his 31st season at the Royals helm.

Melissa Herrmann, a 6-3 junior center, did her best work in the third quarter. She had nine of her 13 points in the period and had three offensive rebounds that she turned into points. Somonauk simply had nobody to match the Royals' size and aggressiveness.

Maxzine Rossler added 12 points for H-BR, 10 before the intermission. Alyssa Baunach and Tess Godhardt chipped in seven points apiece. Sophomore Jes Meyer had six points for the Royals, despite being slowed by illness.

"All the girls did pretty good tonight. We got a lot of back-door passes (for baskets), and we shot better tonight than we have lately," said Peppers.

Kuykendall had five points and Janine Ciesielczyk four points for the Bobcats.

Girls Basketball: Hinckley-Big Rock 76, Somonauk 12