Elgin Academy holds off Christian Liberty

There is strength in numbers.

That is something the Elgin Academy girls basketball team has not been used to in past seasons. However, under first-year coach Jill Kowalyszyn, and with 16 players on the roster, this year is different.

The host Hilltoppers used that depth on Tuesday night to overcome a 7-point halftime deficit and pull away to a 35-31 win over Christian Liberty in opening round action of the Elgin Academy Varsity Girls Thanksgiving Tournament.

Freshman Liz Sporina came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points for the Hilltoppers.

"I am just absolutely elated right now," Kowalyszyn said. " It's hard to run a program when you only have 7 or 8 girls like we have had in some past years. It makes it hard to run a press or practice running man-to-man defense or how to play against a zone when you just simply don't have enough bodies in practice. But now we can do all that. It makes a huge difference. We were able to play man-to-man today and we were able to press. And every girl that came in knew their role and played it well. I couldn't be more proud."

The Hilltoppers trailed 19-12 at the half, but eventually pulled even at 23-23 at the end of the third quarter on a putback basket by junior Madeline Sporina. Kalia Rija gave Elgin Academy its first lead 29-27 on the opening possession of the fourth quarter. An 8-0 run midway through the fourth put the Hilltoppers in the lead for good 33-27.

Madeline Sporina started the run with a put back basket. She finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

"We were able to regroup at halftime and came out fired up and ready to go in the second half," Madeline Sporina said. "It's a great new spin to have this many players."

Christian Liberty was led in scoring by Senior Jasmine Marsh with 18 points. However, she was plagued by foul trouble down the stretch. Also with only 9 girls on the roster the Chargers wore down.

"We started out strong especially on defense," Christian Liberty coach Annie Vasquez said. " But when Jasmine got in foul trouble that really hurt us. Plus with a small team it's tough to keep up when you go up against a team that can run the whole time like they did."