Rosary rallies to beat Aurora Christian in OT
Neighboring private schools Aurora Christian and Rosary entered their nonconference matchup Thursday night with identical 3-2 records, then spent 36 minutes showing they are just about as even as those records indicate.
Rosary spotted the Eagles a 10-0 lead to start the game, caught up by halftime and finally overtook them in overtime for a 54-45 win on the Royals' homecourt.
Sophia Kramer, who missed 2 free throws with 49 seconds left in regulation that could have won the game, opened the overtime with a 3-pointer to put the Royals (4-2) ahead for good. Rosary scored the first 9 points in overtime after neither team could muster a point over the final 3:10 of regulation.
"It was huge for us when she hit it," Rosary coach Phil VanBogaert said of Kramer's 3. "It wasn't until overtime when we started playing good basketball. It was ugly."
The Royals can thank their defense for the win, holding the Eagles to 4-of-30 shooting in the second half and overtime. Aurora Christian missed its first 7 shots of overtime until Alexandra Fry's 3-point shot in the closing seconds.
"Offensively we could have been a little better in the second half," Eagles coach Burney Wilkie said. "We ran out of gas."
Aurora Christian (3-3) took a 30-29 lead into halftime. The Eagles never trailed in the first half, opening the game up 13-2 sparked by Tori Henning's step-back 3-pointer, a corner 3-pointer by Fry and a pair of baskets by Megan Hart including one on a perfectly executed pick-and-roll.
The Royals battled back behind their bench, who scored 19 of their 29 first-half points, and for the game outscored the Eagles' reserves 30-3.
Katherine Danos drained three 3s, and Riley McCue - standing 5-feet-8 - battled inside for 8 more points.
"The people who were coming off the bench did a good job keeping us in the ballgame," VanBogaert said.
Trailing 25-16 midway through the second quarter, McCue scored on 2 putbacks and another strong post move, and Danos banked in a 3 during a 13-4 run to end the half.
The scoring slowed drastically in the second half, with neither team scoring more than 7 points in either the third or fourth quarter. Danos, who qualified for the state 3-point competition last year, hit another 3 to tie the game in the third quarter.
Rosary took its first lead with 2 minutes left in the third quarter on a drive by McCue. She finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Danos scored 12 and Kramer 10.
Kramer's baseline jumper put the Royals up 42-40 in the fourth quarter before Henning drove to tie the game with 3:10 left.
Both teams had 5 empty possessions from there with a chance to win in regulation, including a made basket for each team that was waved off by a 3-second violation.
Henning, working her way back to 100 percent following an elbow injury, led all scorers with 18 points. Fry and Hart both added 10 points with Hart grabbing 14 rebounds.
"This actually is the happiest I've been with our team all year," Wilkie said. "I felt we played really well. We're still putting it together."