Rapp, Scully power St. Edward past ACC
It was an inside-outside combination that Aurora Central Catholic couldn't detain.
Senior center Cece Rapp provided the inside presence for St. Edward with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while Ryann Scully poured in 5 shots from beyond the arc in scoring 16 points, all in the first half.
The Green Wave's dynamic duo keyed a 61-39 win over ACC in Metro Suburban West girls basketball action in Elgin Thursday night.
"I really liked our balance tonight," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. "We really focused on using all our options tonight. Ryann's ability to hit 3s really opened up the inside game for Cece."
Aurora Central coach Mark Fitzgerald was impressed with St. Edward's performance.
"We had an emotional win against IC," said Fitzgerald, who earned his 100th win as ACC coach against IC. "We were a little flat. But I don't want to take anything away from (St. Edward). They played a superior game tonight. They have a great homecourt advantage and they were the better team tonight."
St. Edward (16-8, 6-4), which lost to ACC 54-48 in overtime on Dec. 11 in Aurora, was able to bust open a close game near the end of the second quarter.
Holding a 7-point, 23-16 advantage, the Wave, behind two 3s from Scully (5-of-7 from 3-point range) and 2 inside baskets from Rapp (12-of-15 from the floor) seized control of the game with an 11-0 run.
The Green Wave turned the 7-point advantage into a 34-16 lead with 2:28 remaining in the first half.
St. Edward led 38-20 after 16 minutes and ACC never threatened the Wave's big lead in the second half.
St. Edward's biggest lead was 30, 56-26, with 6:33 left in the game,
"Ryann hitting those 3s in the first half really opened up the inside game for me," said Rapp. "My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball in the post. It was a good team win."
Scully felt she was in good rhythm in the first half.
"They were collapsing on Cece and it gave me some open looks," said Scully. "I just felt like I had a good stroke tonight. Tonight was fun."
Alex Johnson came off the Charger bench to lead ACC (15-6, 5-4) with 11 points.
"It is good to get a game like this out of the way in the regular season," said Fitzgerald. "Better now than in the playoffs."