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Aurora Christian blanks Westmont in 4th quarter, wins regional

Gabby Galbato knew things were going well for Aurora Christian during the fourth quarter of the Eagles' regional championship game on their home floor Friday night against Westmont.

But this well?

Aurora Christian didn't allow Westmont a point in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Sentinels 13-0 to win its third straight regional championship, 45-33, and set a program record with 20 victories.

"Oh wow," Galbato said when asked if she knew Westmont went scoreless in the fourth. "Crazy to think about it. We were all focused on the game."

Focused and then some. No. 1 seed Aurora Christian (20-8) forced 7 turnovers in the final quarter, and Westmont missed all 6 of its field goal attempts.

"You have to score," Westmont coach Mike McCord said. "Our freshmen stated playing like freshmen. Then we got panicky and tried to do too much. They are a good team. We knew it going in. We played as hard as we could, we just didn't have enough weapons at the end to do what we needed to do."

With the exception of Galbato's opening basket, No. 3 seed Westmont (14-15) led throughout the first three quarters. Mara Casper quickly answered with a 3-point basket to give the Sentinels a lead they held until six minutes remained in the game.

Casper ended up hitting four 3s, banking in two of them, for a team-high 17 points. AnneMarie Carlson added 10 points, but the rest of the team combined for 6.

Westmont took leads of 11-6 after one quarter and 25-22 at halftime. Aurora Christian trailed by as much as 7 points in the second quarter before Sami Hultine heated up with four 3-pointers in the quarter to bring the Eagles within 25-22 at halftime.

Galbato took over in the second half, scoring 16 of her game-high 21 points. She moved around the lane to find holes in Westmont's zone.

"For being only 5-10 and being undersized most of the year, she's tough," Eagles coach Burney Wilkie said. "She's so much more active than most bigs. Against zones like tonight she will call for the ball and has teammates that will find her. She had a great game."

Galbato scored 8 of Aurora Christian's 10 points in the third quarter and its first 8 points of the fourth.

"We knew it was cruch time, we had to start playing hard," Galbato said. "I give it to my guards, they know how to read the floor every time."

Casper's 3 put the Sentinels ahead 33-28 with three minutes left in the third quarter - their final points of the night. Aurora Christian ended the game on a 17-0 run.

The Eagles took the lead for good 36-33 when Galbato caught an entry pass at the free-throw line and drove down the lane to score while being fouled. She hit two more baskets, then Hultine penetrated and dished to Natasha Brown inside to give the Eagles a commanding 42-33 advantage with 2:06 remaining.

"I think this game was the story of the our season," Wilkie said. "We have had to battle all year. Trying to figure out who we are and what we are going to do. They just battled all night. My girls wanted this so badly and in the fourth quarter they finally took it."

Galbato also grabbed 10 rebounds while Hultine finished with 15 points and Brown had 7 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals to give Wilkie a regional title in his first year as head coach.

"Probably since I was 21 I've dreamed of coaching basketball at Aurora Christian," Wilkie said. "So to do this with my dad in the building, it doesn't get better. Big night for us."

Aurora Christian will play Seton Academy at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Class 2A Lisle sectional looking to make more history with its first sectional win.

"I want more, we want more, this whole team does," Galbato said. "Regionals are amazing but we want to get to state."

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