St. Edward makes quick work of Rosary

It is never a good omen for a basketball team when it has a single defensive rebound in the opening quarter.

But then again, St. Edward did not have very many misses Saturday afternoon against Rosary in Aurora.

The Green Wave scored 15 of the first 17 points in the Suburban Christian Conference girls game and never looked back in its 58-30 victory.

“The game was over after the first three minutes,” Rosary coach Jessie Wilcox said.

Both teams are 5-3 overall and 1-1 in league play after the one-sided St. Edward win.

The defining element of the game was the collective unselfishness of St. Edward.

Junior post Cece Rapp was the primary beneficiary. The St. Charles resident hit her first 7 shots from the field in scoring a game-high 18 points.

“No one was greedy with the ball,” said Rapp. “My team was giving me some great passes today, and (my shots) were going in.”

Rapp added 6 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.

Despite limited minutes due to first-half fouls, Rapp had a pair of 3-point plays as St. Edward was 7 of 12 from the floor in the opening quarter.

Rapp and Katie Swanson turned two of the misses into putbacks.

St. Edward had 21 points in the first quarter; Rosary would not match that total until less than two minutes to play in the third quarter.

Swanson and Madelyn Spagnola were the floor leaders for St. Edward.

The latter hit a first-quarter 3-pointer, and Swanson codirected the offense with equal efficiency.

“We were all confident coming into the game,” said Swanson, a senior from Elgin. “We were just working the ball and hitting the open player.”

Rosary took 13 minutes to hit double figures, and St. Edward had a 21-point lead at the break, 34-13.

Rapp returned in the second half and hit Rosary with three more conventional field goals.

But Rosary finally found an offensive rhythm.

Missing leading scorer Quincy Kellett, the Royals did receive a solid game from Megan Conlin, who led the team with 14 points and 6 rebounds.

Emily Bakala stroked home 2 3-pointers for Rosary in the third quarter, but it would prove to be illusory for the Royals.

The Royals missed all 11 of their field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter as St. Edward simply expanded its degree of separation.

“We played very much a team game,” said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. “We were very unselfish today. I was very pleased with our effort on both ends of the court.”

Swanson finished with 11 points for St. Edward.

“I could liken (our offensive effort) to swimming,” Wilcox said. “Instead of jumping in to see how cold the water was, we were putting one foot in and taking it out. It was a rough one offensively.”