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Yorkville's pressure rattles Rosary

With one senior and four sophomores on its roster, Rosary is going to go through its share of growing pains this season.

The first of those came Thursday at IMSA's Hoop Happenings Tournament.

The Royals made just 1 field goal in the first half against Yorkville, falling behind 29-10 at halftime on the way to a 51-31 loss.

Rosary (1-1) had as many turnovers - 32 - as field goal attempts, sinking just 8.

"I knew we were going to start off slow," said Rosary first-year coach Don Rasich. "It's going to be a process. I understand that, the girls understand it. We believe we have the talent in place to get better each game and to make a run later in the season."

Yorkville (1-1) came into the game determined to pick up the intensity on the defensive end after allowing 60 points to Indian Creek on Tuesday. The Foxes did just that.

Mary Kate Bakala scored inside in the first minute for Rosary, tying the game at 2. The Royals did not make another shot the final 15 minutes of the first half, a combination of cold shooting and not getting many attempts with so many turnovers.

"Yorkville is a good team," Rasich said. "We expected they would come after us especially after losing the first game. We just couldn't handle their pressure. They took us completely out of the game. They dictated the first quarter. After that we settled in."

Yorkville took its biggest lead at 37-12 midway through the third quarter.

The Royals kept fighting. Danielle Goering's basket started a 9-4 run to end the third quarter, five of the points coming from sophomore Sydney Drozdowski.

The Royals got as close as 41-29 on Bakala's bucket with 5:30 left. That would be Rosary's last field goal of the game, the Foxes finishing on a 10-2 kick.

"We ran out of gas," Rasich said. "I give our girls all the credit in the world. They never gave up. We forced Yorkville to put their starters back in the game."

Drozdowski and her sister Taylor Drozdowski both scored 7 points to lead Rosary, and Aubrey Fisher added 6.

Yorkville's Lauren Daffenberg paced all scorers with 12.

"We didn't shoot the ball well on Tuesday," Yorkville coach Luke Engelhardt said of his team's 21-of-72 night. "I figured the kids would bounce back. This is what early tournaments are for, get some experience. The second quarter we saw some glimpses of what we can build on."

  Rosary forward Aubrey Fisher (11), center, tries to get past a swarm of Yorkville defenders during a girls basketball game at Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora Thursday night. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Rosary guard Mary Kate Bakala (13) tries to control a rebound during a girls basketball game against Yorkville at Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora Thursday night. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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