Senior night goes right for St. Francis

Senior night couldn't have gone much better for St. Francis on Monday.

Playing archrival Wheaton Academy, the Spartans quickly built a double-digit lead and rolled to a 49-25 nonconference girls basketball victory in Wheaton.

"It was a big win and a lot of fun," Spartans senior Reagan Sproat said.

"I'm of the firm belief that if we run our stuff and execute, we definitely have a lot of potential," Spartans coach Melissa Taylor added. "Like tonight, when we just run our stuff and stick to what we know, we're very capable of performing at a high level."

The Spartans, who have won five of their last six games, knew things were going their way when Sproat ended the first quarter by hitting a 30-foot 3-point shot at the buzzer. The shot gave St. Francis a 17-7 lead.

Sproat finished with 9 points, 4 blocks, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in limited playing time as Taylor worked 15 Spartans into the game.

"This game she just came in with a lot of confidence, and when she does she performs for us," Taylor said.

The Warriors didn't shoot well, making just 6 of 32 shots in the first half, when they turned the ball over 13 times and allowed 11 offensive rebounds to St. Francis (14-7). They trailed by 17 at halftime.

"That was the difference in the first half," said Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell, whose team has lost three of its last four games. "When you dig yourself a hole against a good team like this it's hard to come back. You've got to rebound the ball. You can't give them three or four opportunities. We've got to work on that to get ready for the postseason. That was exploited very badly against us tonight."

The offensive rebounds were no accident for the Spartans.

"We've talked about it a lot lately," Taylor said. "When teams are playing more zone or packing in the (man-to-man defense) on us we should just send everyone in to crash (the boards) anyway. What do we have to lose? We're going to end up pressing when we score so we might as well get them in position."

Senior Sloane Baumgartner scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead St. Francis. Sophomore Antwainette Walker scored 10 points.

Senior forward Elizabeth Melby paced Wheaton Academy (15-7) with 12 points.

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