Rosary clamps down against ACC
Rosary gave Aurora Central Catholic a lesson in how to close out a basketball game Wednesday night.
The Royals’ stifling defense was so intense in the fourth quarter that host ACC was unable to score from the field.
Allowing single-figure points in the final three quarters in the schools’ Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division girls game, Rosary turned back the Chargers 42-34 Wednesday night in Aurora.
The Royals’ latest triumph came on the heels of a 41-30 win over Chicago Christian in Palos Heights Tuesday night.
“We’re a defensive team first,” Rosary coach Jessie Wilcox said. “That’s what we do. We rely on our defense.”
Aurora Central Catholic (8-9, 1-5), which entered the final quarter trailing 35-31, could muster only 3 Alex Horton free throws.
Rosary (10-9, 4-2) limited the Chargers to 19 percent field-goal shooting (3-for-16) after the break.
“Everyone was in the right spot,” said Rosary senior Karly Tate, who was a major factor in the Royals’ balanced offensive attack with 9 points. “We were really working together, especially with our help defense.”
The opening quarter suggested a much higher-scoring game than actually unfolded.
It a classic first-half exchange of Rosary perimeter play and the Chargers’ dribble penetration, the teams exchanged blows with abandon in the historic rivalry and neighborhood showdown.
Madison Richmond drained three 3-pointers for Rosary in totaling her 9 points, but Aurora Central Catholic always answered in kind.
Alex DeCraene banked home an improbable 3-pointer at the first quarter to give ACC a 13-12 lead.
But it would prove to be the final lead the Chargers would enjoy.Quincy Kellett, who scored a team-high 10 points for Rosary as the seventh-man, hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to give the Royals the lead for good.
The second downtown Richmond connection gave Rosary an 8-point lead, only to see Aurora Central responded behind sophomore guard Kalie Soris.
Soris’ 9 first-half points and her penetrating drives spearheaded a late ACC push that brought the squad to within 23-22 at the break.
Tate and Emily Bakala scored quick buckets for Rosary to start the third, and the defense took over from there.
Horton would convert a 3-point play as part of her two-field goal quarter, but DeCraene would be the only other Charger to score from the field after the intermission.
“This is the game we were waiting for,” Tate said of the Royals’ defensive intensity. “With a rivalry like ACC, our energy was there from the start.”
“We just got a little overwhelmed,” DeCraene said. “We were getting a little frazzled because we were losing.”
Soris scored a game-high 11 points to lead ACC; Horton finished with 10 points for the Chargers.