How a victory showed what's wrong — and what's right — with Boylan basketball

ROCKFORD — When Boylan lost three of four games just after Christmas, the big question on a popular NIC-10 message board in town was: What’s wrong with Boylan?

Nothing. And several things. Both were on display Friday when Boylan snapped another mini struggling streak by eking out a huge 50-47 victory at East.

Here are the top three reasons why Boylan could still finish as high as second in the NIC-10 and make a postseason run in Class 3A boys basketball — and also three more why the Titans could fall out of the top three in the conference for the first time in 39 years, when the Titans finished fourth at 11-7 in 1983.

Here are three reasons Boylan is still good:

Everyone contributes

Boylan (15-7, 8-3 NIC-10) has 12 seniors on its roster. Zach Hewett is one of them. He rarely plays, but he played strong defense in the closing minutes and made two huge free throws to basically clinch the game, giving Boylan a 48-45 lead with 10 seconds left.

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Hewett said, “but then I remembered all the times I went to the gym with my teammates, getting up extra shots. I knew I was ready.”

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In Boylan’s earlier 52-49 win over East, six Titans scored between seven and nine points. On Friday, seven Titans scored between four and nine points.

“That’s how we are,” said Nolan Brauns, who led Boylan with nine points. “We’ve got a lot of really good guys who can get into the game and make an impact. We are all unselfish guys. We don’t care who gets the most points. It’s just about working together as a team and getting the job done.”

Boylan makes free throws when needed

East (17-6, 8-3) got to the line more than Boylan, but missed 11 of its 25 free throws, including 3 of 4 by leading scorer Jemere Jefferson in the last 77 seconds. Boylan, on the other hand, had made only two free throws until it made 5 of 6 in the last 21 seconds to snap out of a mini-skid that had seen the Titans lose three of their last four games.

In Boylan’s first win over East, the Titans got to the line on their final four possessions after having not scored a point at the free-throw line since their first two points of the game.

Boylan plays great defense

The Titans have now allowed 50 points only nine times in 22 games. They fell behind East by 10 points early, 18-8, but took the lead with an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter, fueled by three consecutive turnovers, to lead 41-38.

“That was big,” Boylan coach Brett McAllister said of forcing four of East’s 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter. “It hadn’t really happened up until that point. Our defense was very strong all night, but we weren’t turning them over, which made it difficult to score because they are tremendous defensively. It was great to get the turnovers. That led to easy baskets, which was needed.”

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Those turnovers helped Boylan shoot 6-for-9 in the final quarter, after shooting 13-for-36 the first three quarters.

And here is why Boylan, currently tied with East for third in the league behind Auburn (12-0) and Guilford (10-2) might still have its worst league finish in 39 years despite playing smart, balanced team ball.

Boylan lacks firepower

No Titans player has scored in double figures in two games against East. And those were wins. In their last loss to Guilford, no Titans player scored more than five points.

Boylan is loaded with star two-sport athletes, but most of them are better known in another sport, with Joe Appino and Mark Harris making all-conference in football, Nolan Brauns in golf and Luke Leombruni in baseball. Tristian Ford, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, is the only Boylan player who can consistently create his own shot.

“Our team has to really cut hard and reverse the ball and share it because we don’t have a ton of creators on the floor,” McAllister said. “Our assists to baskets ratio has been great.”

Boylan has modest height

Tyler Hood, at 6-4, and the 6-3 Brauns are the only Titans taller than 6-2. Combine that with a lack of 1-on-1 moves and Boylan seldom gets to the free-throw line. In two games against East, the Titans made a combined four free throws until the final two minutes.

“A lot of times when we get to the rim, our guys are making the right plays, but they are getting bodied or having a shot blocked," McAllister said. "We shoot great from the line. That’s why we love having the lead in the fourth quarter. But with our team makeup, we don’t get to the line a ton.”

So what’s the verdict on Boylan?

This Titans team has to do it the hard way. That’s why they have lost twice to Guilford after having never lost to Guilford in 20 years. But they also are disciplined enough to do it the hard way. That’s why they have beaten East twice and led NIC-10 leader Auburn until the final minute — and could still make a playoff run.

“We got off to a great start,” McAllister said of Boylan winning its first eight games, “but since Christmas baskets have been hard to come by. We have been in a funk offensively. We need to take great shots — but have the confidence to make them.

“What’s special about this group is we had a great start and then hit an extended bump in the road. Our guys had to learn through adversity how to get back to who we were. It’s not a lot of fun to go through that, but they now know how they need to play to compete: Get stops on defense and take care of the ball on offense. That adversity helped us learn things that are really going to help us in the postseason.”

Matt Trowbridge: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com; @matttrowbridge

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA basketball: Rockford Boylan boys defeat Rockford East in NIC-10