Rockford-Area Midseason Report

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rockford Christian is Unbeaten</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The only unbeaten team in the area. The Royal Lions have won by double digits in all but two games this season. They're 15-0 at the moment. Not only that, their go-to player is only a sophomore. Point Guard [player_tooltip player_id='1553123' first='Christian' last='Cummings'] leads the way and flashes tools of an elite floor general with tremendous scoring abilities. Cummings runs with the Mac Irvin Fire in AAU. Elijah Daughtery, another sophomore, is a fun two-way player to watch with limitless range and tremendous defensive abilities. They aren't the tallest team, but they play with lots of speed and frustrate opponents all over the floor. It'll be exciting to see how they progress going forward. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Early battle atop the NIC-10</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Right now, there are three teams at the top of the league. Guilford, Boylan, and Auburn each have one loss in conference play. Guilford is the only team in this bunch with a win against the other two (Boylan). There's lots of promise on this team with [player_tooltip player_id='1282464' first='Malachi' last='Johnson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1215293' first='Mekhi' last='Doby'], and Cinco Gary leading the way, and they reached the semifinal of the Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic in DeKalb. Auburn has two exciting freshman in [player_tooltip player_id='1845353' first='Amir' last='Danforth'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2105407' first='Champ' last='Parker'] who are both impact-players for the knights. In addition, [player_tooltip player_id='1537983' first='Adrian' last='Agee'] has limitless range and should be on the radar of small-school programs. Boylan has a new, exciting group led by junior Ryan Starck. Behind those three is Rockford East. The E-Rabs missed [player_tooltip player_id='1537984' first='Matthew' last='Hoarde'] earlier in the season, but have showed signs of light since his return. They reached the semifinal of the Collinsville Holiday Classic and beat Guilford a few weeks prior. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a push for the top three. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1661484' first='Ross' last='Robertson'] Continues to Dominate for South Beloit</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Robertson has been at the forefront of South Beloit's 11-2 start. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1661484' first='Ross' last='Robertson'] displays tons of size and skills down low. Smaller schools they play against don't generally have the size of Robertson and he surely takes advantage of that. In addition, he's got limitless range and can shoot from anywhere on the floor. South Beloit will look to make a run in the 1A playoffs this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Power Rankings:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1. Guilford</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2. East</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3. Christian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4. Auburn</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5. East</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6. Lutheran</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7. Freeport</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>8. Winnebago</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9. Belvidere North</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10. South Beloit</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->