Droeske, Aurora Central beat Rosary at buzzer

The latest girls basketball collision between neighborhood rivals Rosary and Aurora Central Catholic could not have had stranger plot twists.

The five Rosary starters were a combined 17-for-76 from the field.

Aurora Central small forward Alex Horton had more rebounds — 8 — than Rosary had points — 6 — in the third quarter while wiping the glass for a game-high 18 in all.

Rosary lost its leading scorer, Quincy Kellett — who posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds — with two-plus minutes to go.

But the Royals’ Emily Drozdowski hit two 3-pointers in the last 70 seconds — including a banked-in basket with seven second to play to force the first tie since the teams ended the opening quarter.

ACC, however, would have the final say in the Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division game as Gabi Alfaro beat the Rosary defense, feeding Natalie Droeske in the paint.

The Chargers’ junior post released the ball with less than a second to play; the point-blank shot found its desired location for a 47-45 ACC victory Friday night at Central in Aurora.

“(Alfaro) decided to dish it,” said Droeske, who scored 9 of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter. “She said, ‘I had total confidence in you.’ It feels great that my teammate feels that way toward me. (The winning score) is probably one of the best moments of my life.”

There were 101 combined missed field goals before the two pulsating scores in the final seven seconds.

Rosary (11-13, 5-5) trailed by 9 points twice in the third quarter, but Drozdowski calmly knocked down two 3-pointers in a 63-second span.

The first 3-pointer halved the Royals’ deficit to 43-40, and the most unconventional 3-pointer tied the game at 45-45.

“Normally I don’t shoot 3s in games,” Drozdowski said. “I was kind of in shock when the first one went in. When the second one went in, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, did that really happen?’”

The teams’ collective offensive sluggishness was evidenced early as the first quarter ended in an 8-8 tie.

But Horton hit two 3-pointers to spearhead a magnificent 21-point second-quarter by the Chargers (11-11, 5-4).

“I wasn’t hitting at first,” Horton said. “I took my time and collected myself (in the second quarter).”

Horton scored all 10 of her points in the opening half.

But her true value was her rebounding.

Horton grabbed 13 of her game-high 18 rebounds after halftime, which began with ACC holding a 29-22 lead.

“I was determined to box out,” Horton said.

“Every one of them was huge,” ACC coach Mark Fitzgerald said.

Rachel Choice led Rosary with 14 points, and Drozdowski was the third Royal in double figures with 11 points.

“(Alfaro) made an amazing play,” Rosary coach Jessie Wilcox said. “I give our girls a lot of credit. We were down 7, 8, 9 points the whole game.”

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