Rosary steamrolls IMSA

IMSA never stood a chance in its home gymnasium Thursday night.

In second-round action of the Hoop Happenings Girls Basketball Tournament, which IMSA co-hosts with Aurora Christian, Rosary scored the first 14 points of the game.

The Titans would fail to match the Royals’ game-opening run for the entire contest as Rosary employed a swarming combination of defenses in its 55-11 victory in Aurora.

Rachel Choice scored but 5 points, but the senior guard terrorized the Titans’ offensive rhythm with 7 first-half steals.

IMSA (0-2) did not score in the opening quarter from the field; for the first half, of its 40 possessions, Rosary forced 26 turnovers.

“It was a just a matter of our defense,” said Choice, a Batavia resident. “(The forced turnovers) are what we want to get into transition, and that’s how we’re going to get our offense this year. We had active hands tonight.”

Quincy Kellett was the Royals’ offensive conductor.

The junior guard was electrifying in the second quarter, draining two 3-point field goals, adding a 3-point play and assisting on 3 other Rosary field goals.

Kellett, despite limited minutes due to first-half foul problems, single-handedly outscored IMSA with her game-high 15 points.

“We were trying to spread it out and find our open shots,” Kellett said. “A lot of my baskets were on rebounds right in front of the basket, where the post kicked it back out.”

Adrienne Winkel and Megan Conlin played that role with precision; the duo combined for 17 rebounds, with the former adding a second-best 12 points and 9 rebounds for the Royals (1-1).

Conlin was the third Royal in double figures with 10 points and 8 boards.

“(Kellett) is our sparkplug,” Rosary coach Jessie Wilcox said. “She plays the game at a high speed. We need her energy, her leadership and her speed.”

IMSA, meanwhile, suffered generating offense the entire game.

With Choice and Kellett spearheading the Royals’ 21-point second quarter, IMSA managed its first field goal from Trenurd Kleczewski a minute into the second quarter.

“Once we were able to get into some kind of rhythm, our shots started to come,” said Kleczewski, on the Titans’ rash of first-half turnovers. “We were overthinking what we were supposed to do.”

Emily Bakala scored the Royals’ last 4 points of the first half to give Rosary a commanding 37-7 lead at the break.