Aurora Central wins rivalry game over Rosary
The tallest player on Rosary's roster is listed at 5-foot-9.
That's music to the ears of Aurora Central Catholic Taylor Harazin. The sophomore stands 6-foot-3, one of three Chargers 6-feet or taller.
Aurora Central took advantage inside in its 57-43 win over its rival Monday night on the Royals' home court.
Harazin scored 13 points, 6-2 Sabrina Ganofsky tallied 8 in her first game of the season, and 6-footer Natalie Droeske chipped in 4.
"We have been blessed with some height and we finally took advantage of it," Aurora Central Catholic coach Mark Fitzgerald said. "All three of those posts stepped up big. When you have that combined with good guards it could be a fun season for us. We're off to a great start."
Aurora Central Catholic (8-1) certainly is, a loss to Glenbard South the only blemish on its record. Eight Chargers scored, another hallmark of this year's squad their quality depth.
Aurora Central only added to that with Ganofsky's debut Monday. Another sophomore, she had been out with a concussion suffered in fall basketball.
"We have great depth," Harazin said. "Our height advantage is great. I don't know if we're the biggest in the league but we have three girls over six foot so that helps a lot. Our guards are great. They are starting to look down low when the bigs are open."
The Chargers' backcourt, Kalie Soris and Gabi Alfaro, combined for 22 points including a team-high 14 for Soris. Her former teammate in middle school and nearly lifelong friend Quincy Kellett paced Rosary (2-6) with 17 points.
"It was a good game, it always is with them," Royals coach Jessie Terrell said. "They all went to grade school together. It's interesting because there's that huge rivalry but they are also best friends. Kalie and Quincy have grown up since kindergarten."
Kellett canned an early 3-pointer to give Rosary one of its few leads, 4-2. The Chargers made 6 free throws - much more of that to come - to go ahead 10-6 after a quarter.
Rosary stayed close until late in the second quarter when the Chargers broke open a tight 21-19 score with a game-deciding 17-1 surge that spanned the second and third quarters.
Ganofsky scored twice inside and Soris drove for a basket to cap the run and give the Chargers a 38-20 lead. Rosary never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
"It was back and forth the first half," Fitzgerald said. "We have more horses. They are undermanned height-wise. They played their hearts out."
Terrell concurred about the lack of depth, and that was compounded for Rosary when Megan Conlin, Taylor Drozdowski, Adrienne Winkel and Kellett, among others, got in foul trouble. Drozdowski and Conlin both fouled out and missed much of the second half.
"That (foul trouble) makes our bench even shorter," Terrell said. "They (ACC) have depth. Right now that's where we're struggling. We only go 5, 6, 7 deep. As the game goes on we get tired."
All those fouls led to a long night at the free-throw line. The Chargers got their 46 times, making 26, while Rosary shot 28 and hit 15.
"That's what happens when you play a rival like that," Fitzgerald said. "It's going to be hotly contested."
That 53 percent shooting at the line hurt the Royals, and at 12 of 57 for 21 percent it wasn't any better from the field. Again the Chargers' height hurt, allowing them better looks at the basket on their end while making it hard for Rosary to get anything easy at the Royals' basket.
"They are definitely taller than us like a lot of teams in the area," Terrell said. "But I thought we were faster. When they went with their big lineup we tried to go with our small lineup and tried to go fast."