Aurora Central Catholic slows down Wheaton Academy
Knowing defense would be the determining factor in its Metro Suburban Conference battle with Wheaton Academy Wednesday night, Aurora Central Catholic couldn't have executed coach Mark Fitzgerald's game plan much better.
The Chargers held the Warriors to 21.3 percent shooting from the field (13 for 61) and no free throws. They got just enough offense on their own end for a 34-29 victory.
Jamie Netzley scored 15 points for the Warriors and Elizabeth Melby had 12, but the rest of the team combined for just 2 points.
"Very happy about it," Fitzgerald said. "That's a good team, a well-coached team."
Wheaton Academy (10-2, 3-2) defeated Aurora Central Catholic (7-4, 3-1) twice last year, which provided the Chargers with a little extra motivation.
"It is a big win after last year especially because that was ugly," Chargers senior guard Paige Miller said. "We all worked as a team. At the end we didn't get scared. We just kept our cool."
The Chargers never trailed, scoring the game's first 6 points all from post players Taylor Harazin and Sabrina Ganofsky.
After Wheaton Academy answered with the final 6 points of the quarter to tie the game, the Chargers again spurted with an 11-0 run to start the second quarter. Alex Johnston and Gina Cortino connected on 3s, then Miller scored 5 straight.
Wheaton Academy cut into the Chargers' 18-10 halftime lead behind the Taylor University-bound Netzley, who scored 11 straight points for the Warriors spanning the third and fourth quarters.
Her third 3-point basket of the game drew the Warriors within 28-27 midway through the fourth quarter. Harazin, who missed much of the game in foul trouble, returned to score inside on a feed from Miller for a 30-27 lead.
Melby scored and was fouled but missed her free throw that would have tied the game. After another Harazin basket put the Chargers up 32-29 with one minute left, the Warriors missed a 3, then also missed 3 free throws in the final minute.
Cortino iced the game with a pair of free throws.
Johnston scored 10 points and Harazin and Ganofsky both had 6 for the Chargers who won despite shooting just 33 percent themselves and turning the ball over 24 times. Netzley led the Warriors on defense with 8 steals.
"She's great, she's a special player," Warriors coach Beth Mitchell said of the 4-year starter.
"I think we just played really flat. Our defense kept us in the game but we weren't able to capitalize on their turnovers. We had a hard time defending the first half and dug a little too big of a hole."