Sterling seniors push each other in win over Dixon

The miniature University of Illinois basketball Everett was holding goes to the player who best stuffs the stat sheet.

"It's a play hard, play smart, play together ball," Everett said. "It's got stats, rebounds, steals, blocks, all that stuff. We're going back and forth, and we're adding it up to see who beat each other out."

Sorry, Zack. At least for Friday night, the ball belongs to Whittaker, who scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds – five of them offensive – and notched two blocks and an assist in the Sauk Valley Shootout contest.

The Dukes (0-4) led their Route 2 rival 14-12 early in the second quarter before Sterling (3-1) strung a 22-4 run early into the third. Whittaker, who shot 4-for-4 at the free-throw line, triggered the surge with a pair of throws.

Four minutes later, Everett spun into the lane and hit a slick left-handed hook to make it 25-14. His night was nothing to sneeze at, as he scored seven points and racked up six rebounds (five offensive), two steals and a block. Twenty-one of Sterling's 44 rebounds were offensive. Bentley Grell led the team with nine boards.

Alex Soriano, who scored a game-high 16 points, pulled up over Matt Coffey off the dribble along the baseline to drain a 13-footer at the end of the half. Soriano swished a 3 from the right corner off an assist by Micah Miller early in the third to make it 32-18.

Dixon freshman Isaiah Roby, who scored a team-high eight points and grabbed 11 of the Dukes' 29 rebounds, drove and kicked to Michael Conley, who swished a 16-footer with 2 minutes gone by in the third to make it 34-20.

But 30 seconds and a substitution later, Dixon coach Jason Mead called a timeout and broke a clipboard before getting into his players. Only four of them were on the floor when he stopped play.