There’s not much deception or evasiveness with the game of Burlington Central’s Patrick Shell.
What you see is what you get with the play of Shell, a 6-foot-3 senior forward and three-year varsity regular who comes right at you for the Rockets.
“He’s real athletic and when he gets downhill, he’s a tough matchup for a lot of teams,” Burlington Central coach Brett Porto said of Shell. “He was crashing the boards for us on both ends.
“And then defensively, his length and anticipation is a big catalyst for us on tips, steals, deflections, things like that.”
All of those traits were on display Wednesday night for Shell, who scored a team-high 14 points in a 63-56 overtime victory at Jacobs in a Fox Valley Conference showdown.
The Rockets, who have a 6-1 record in the new year, extended their lead over the Golden Eagles for third place in the 10-team conference to two games.
All four senior starters finished in double figures for Burlington Central (15-6, 7-2), with forward Jake Johnson and guard LJ Kerr scoring 12 points apiece and guard Caden West adding 10.
Shell ended up with a team-high eight rebounds, plus two steals and two assists.
Johnson added seven rebounds with three assists and two steals. He was held scoreless in the first half but sparked Burlington Central’s rally from a 27-19 halftime deficit.
“I’ve seen Jake hit those shots a thousand times,” Shell said of Johnson’s 0-for-7 start. “I just tell him to keep shooting. In the meantime, we all have to pick him up.”
Senior guard Ben Jurzak, who connected on 6 of 11 shots from 3-point range, scored a game-high 23 points for Jacobs (13-6, 5-4).
“They had a really good defensive game plan early on and we missed some close ones,” Porto said. “Jurzak’s a tough player, so him getting going is never easy on a defense. I was really glad with how we responded after halftime.
“I think there were a lot of big plays. When you come back from down eight, it can’t be just one guy. A lot of guys have to make plays at both ends of the court.”
Johnson’s 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter broke a 44-44 tie, and moments later, Shell’s steal led to a feed to Johnson that helped him extend it.
It was tied at 50-50 in regulation, but two free throws by Shell gave the Rockets the lead for good at 52-50 and his assist on West’s layup continued the deadlock.
“My first year on varsity, I was coming off the bench, like a 3-pointer and defensive-type player,” Shell said. “As the years have gone on, I’ve had to take a more prominent role, leading the team and rebounding because we’re kind of smaller this year.
“I feel like my post game has gotten a little better, too, just getting to the post and sealing.”
His numbers reflect it.
Shell is averaging a team-best 14.6 points this season, up from 7.0 last winter. He also averages 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists and team-bests of 2.1 steals and 2.4 deflections.
“They’ve either practiced with me or been with me a long time,” Porto said of his four seniors. “In games like this, you just lean on those guys, not calling a timeout and letting them work through things and process things.
“That’s how you’ve got to win late in the year, win in March, by figuring things out when teams take away your first option. And they did a really good job (Wednesday night).”
This season apparently will be Shell’s last hurrah for basketball, despite receiving interest from several NCAA Division II and Division III schools.
He added track last season for the first time, focusing on both hurdles races. He wants to pursue that in college.
“I’ve heard from D-II and D-III coaches, but my goal is to walk on at Illinois State,” Shell said. “I’ve talked to the coach and need to lower my times to go there. I’d like to go somewhere for track.”
