HINCKLEY -- It may be a little early on the calendar for flurries, but there was a snowball effect at Hinckley-Big Rock on Thursday night.
Hosting Aurora Christian in a nonconference matchup on senior night, the Royals overcame a 19-14 deficit in Game 1, then dominated the second game. Hinckley-Big Rock outscored the Eagles 11-2 down the stretch in the first game for a 25-21 victory, and the Royals (16-14-2) continued to roll.
Forging a 15-3 advantage with a 10-0 run in Game 2, the Royals rolled to a 25-10 decision. While the Royals were coming together, Aurora Christian was unraveling like a baseball struck by lightning.
"I felt a little bit like Casey Stengel when he managed the Yankees. You just throw the ball out there, let them play and they'd win a world championship," Hinckley-Big Rock coach Don Watson said.
Watson started all his seniors in the opening game, which changed his normal rotation, but he stuck with it after the seeing the result.
"I told the girls after the first game the old adage that if it's not broken don't fix it, so we just let it like it was," he said.
The Royals narrowed the margin to 19-17 before the Eagles (16-12) tallied a kill from Ashley Ilseman, but Hinckley-Big Rock would not be denied. Garnering the next six points, the Royals claimed a 23-20 edge and not even a pair of timeouts could slow them.
Senior Melissa Herrmann had three kills in that span while Mallory Gilkey ended the run with a kill. Jenna Thorp then recorded a block and Herrmann ended the game with an ace.
"When we play good, we play really good and go on a run," Herrmann said. "We just wanted to have fun. It was our last home game and we just wanted to enjoy it."
The Royals were having a blast in the second game. Amanda Beebe opened with an ace for the Eagles, but the Royals responded with five consecutive points. Cassie Kroner and Sarah Weirich combined for a block and Erin Helwig tallied an ace before Ilseman had back to back kills on assists from Rachel Mertens.
Ten straight points by the Royals proved an insurmountable deficit for the Eagles. Kroner opened the run with a kill and added an ace while Herrmann had two kills. Weirich also had two kills in that span.
"It was just the intensity of senior night," said Weirich, a senior. "We were all hyped up and ready to play. We knew Aurora Christian was a tough team, so we had to play our best."
Mertens ended the Royals' surge with a tip kill, but Hinckley-Big Rock answered with a blast by Thorp, a kill by Herrmann and an ace by Weirich. Ilseman had three kills in the contest and Gilkey added a pair, but the snowball had become an avalanche.
"Slowly but surely the leadership on my team has began to unravel," Aurora Christian coach Nicole Anderson said. "When that happens, I think we all know and are aware of the fact that your team unravels.
"They have a great blocking system and run a great blocking program," Anderson said of the Royals.
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