Aurora Central tops Fenton to surpass last year's win total
Mark Fitzgerald was not the happiest of girls basketball coaches leaving the court at halftime.
Aurora Central Catholic had limited visiting Fenton to 4 first-half field goals, only to let the Bison back into the game largely due to 8 converted free throws.
"I was disappointed and upset by (the Fenton run) because they were lazy fouls," Fitzgerald said. "(The girls) got a good talking to at halftime."
The message obviously resonated with the ACC players, who were even stingier in the second half.
ACC allowed a mere 6 second-half points in capturing the Metro Suburban Conference West game with a 40-26 victory Tuesday night in Aurora.
With the triumph the Chargers (12-4, 3-2) have one more win than it did last season; Fenton (5-10, 0-5) is winless in the conference.
"We knew we had to win," said Chargers' post Taylor Harazin, who came off the bench to lead all players with 9 points. "It was a struggle in the beginning. We had a goal, and I think we accomplished it tonight."
The Chargers employed a punishing full-court press for the entire game.
"We sub a lot," Fitzgerald said. "The reason we sub a lot is I want the girls to go 100 percent, no hold down."
The most notable element to the Chargers' pressure was how disruptive it was to the Bison offense.
Fenton was 7-for-28 from the field as its 25-percent percentage from the floor was exacerbated by turnovers.
"You're not going to get a lot of shots against that kind of man pressure," Fenton coach Tim Anderson said.
After Fenton reduced its onetime 12-point first-half deficit to 25-20 at the break, ACC scored the opening 7 points of the third quarter.
The Chargers' Alex Thorton augmented a pair of inside scores by Harazin during the mini-burst.
"They came out with the right attitude in the second half," Fitzgerald said.
Harazin, the fifth player off the Chargers' bench, also registered a team-high 6 rebounds while blocking a pair of shots.
The sophomore center enjoyed a considerable height advantage.
"They're not the tallest team, but they were pretty physical," Harazin said of Fenton.
The second half would be a house of horrors for the Bison.
Courtney Susmarski scored on out-of-bounds play midway through the third quarter, but it would be its only points until Ellie Wassmann opened the fourth quarter with a long conventional field goal.
The only other Fenton field goal was scored by senior guard Jannely Hernandez, who led the Bison with 8 points, in the waning seconds of the game.
Eight players scored in all for ACC.
Horton, plagued by foul issues in the first half, had 7 points for ACC; Kalie Soris and Natalie Droeske added six apiece.
Hernandez had a steal and uncontested layup as part of her 6-point second quarter, and Daisy Mora had a 3-pointer to bring Fenton to within 24-20 late in the second quarter.
"I just did what I needed to do," Hernandez said.