Urso's on target as St. Charles East edges Schaumburg
St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra knew senior guard Marissa Urso was not happy with a few situations in the fourth quarter.
But thanks to Urso's free throws at the end, the Saints were quite happy with the final score.
The 5-foot-4 senior guard, who scored a game-high 17 points, converted 4 of 6 free throws in the final 50 seconds to help lift St. Charles East to a 43-42 triumph over Schaumburg in the first round of the Schaumburg Thanksgiving tournament on Tuesday night.
"She kind of redeemed herself," Drumtra said. "I knew she was upset with some turnovers. But at the end she nailed those free throws when we needed them. She showed a lot of poise. Making 4 out of 6 there was the key."
The Saxons rallied from a 7-point deficit to tie the game at 37-37 when senior Mallory Gerber sank 2 free throws with 1:57 left in the game.
A big drive and layup by junior Sara Rosenfeldt gave the Saints a 39-37 lead with 1:20 left.
Urso's 2 free throws made it 41-37 with 50 seconds left.
She added another with 38.3 seconds left to make it 42-37.
A free throw by Saxons senior Laura O'Connell cut the lead to 42-38 before the Saxons forced a turnover.
O'Connell came back with a charging layup off an assist from Gerber that made it 42-40 with 15.3 seconds.
But Urso rose to the occasion again with a free throw with 14.2 seconds to make it 43-40.
"I was pretty nervous after struggling a bit," Urso admitted. "I just felt like I hurt my team with some mistakes. But I got to the free throw line and stayed positive. I wanted to redeem myself for the team."
O'Connell's driving layup with 4.7 seconds got the Saxons to within 43-42.
But Rose Bundy was able to toss the inbounds pass to Rosenfeldt, who dribbled all the way to the opposite free throw line when time expired and gave the Saints the win.
St. Charles East took a 24-18 lead at half and never trailed in the second half.
"We kind of bent but didn't break," Drumtra said.
"I think we have to work on taking care of the basketball," said Urso, who also collected 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. "On defense we have to help out more in our rotations. We were strong on the boards. Our intensity is great and we have good team chemistry, picking each other up when things don't go right."
In addition to scoring 16 points, Rosenfeldt also had a big night on the boards with 15 rebounds. Teammate Ashley DiOrio had 11 while Samantha Munroe handed out 5 assists.
It was the first game of the final season for the retiring Drumtra, who is in her 12th year as the Saints head coach. A social studies teacher, she has taught at St. Charles for 33 years.
Coincidentally, it was the first game of the first season for Schaumburg coach Jacqie Storm, a former Sandburg and St. Francis College (Joliet) standout guard.
"I thought we waited until the fourth quarter to start playing," she said. "Obviously that was our best quarter (outscored St. Charles East 14-8) but it's too late to start playing then."
O'Connell led the Saxons with 17 points while Gerber finished with 10, getting 8 in the second half. They both had 7 rebounds.
Regina D'Orazio chipped in 7 points, including a 3-pointer in the first quarter which gave Schaumburg its biggest lead at 7-3.
Rosenfeldt's 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer tied the game at 8-8 and the Saints went ahead for good with a 6-0 run in the final 1:25 of the first half.
"I thought our defense played well in the fourth quarter but outside of that we struggled," Storm said. "We are trying to build a culture around defense and the girls know that. We can only make progress from here."