The Boylan Catholic Titans had already won 13 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.3 points), and they went ahead and made it 14 on Friday. They blew past Belvidere North 53-22 at home. Boylan Catholic has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 24 points or more this season.
Lilian Esparza was her usual excellent self, dropping a triple-double on 24 points, 12 rebounds, and ten steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Boylan Catholic's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alayna Petalber, who scored ten points.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Belvidere North struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They are winless (0-3) when they can't control their own glass like that.
Boylan Catholic pushed their record up to 20-2 with that victory, which was their 20th straight at home. They've been dominating during the games in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 24.4 points. As for Belvidere North, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost 12 of their last 14 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-16 record this season.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Boylan Catholic will take on Freeport at 7:15 p.m. on Monday. Freeport will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 325th, while Boylan Catholic is ranked 49th). As for Belvidere North, Belvidere North and Harlem will face off at 7:15 p.m. on January 22nd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday.
