Harvest Christian tops Aurora Christian to take NAC lead
Aurora Christian got the break it needed just 97 seconds into its Northeastern Athletic Conference first-place showdown with Harvest Christian Thursday night in Aurora.
Both teams entered 7-0 in conference, and Lions star Alyssa Iverson opened the scoring with a steal and layup, then a 3-pointer.
But she also picked up her second foul in a hurry, sending the junior to the bench with 6:23 left in the opening quarter.
Lions coach Rich DeTamble didn't take long to roll the dice, bringing Iverson back in moments later despite the fouls. She rewarded her coach, not picking up another foul until the fourth quarter.
Iverson scored 16 points in the first half as the Lions opened up a double-digit lead. She finished with 22 in a 54-45 victory that goes a long way toward giving Harvest its third straight conference crown.
"We figured if we talked to one of our team captains she would be able to control herself and she did," DeTamble said. "She calmed down a little bit and moved her feet and kept us in the game. She's probably one of the best ballhandlers I've seen in a long time. That was a quality win."
It was the 16th straight win for the Lions who will make the conference championship official with victories over IMSA and Alden-Hebron.
"I had to be much more smart about my decisions on defense," Iverson said. "I had to still be aggressive but restrain some of it."
It was an eventful first quarter, not just with Iverson. Aurora Christian (16-7, 7-1) had all kinds of trouble breaking the Lions full court press and their constant traps in the half court.
The Eagles committed two 10-second violations in the first three minutes.
"We are blessed with three very quick guards," DeTamble said. "We love to put ball pressure on, we love transition, and part of our game is we don't want to have a setup offense. We work on having our offense flow from our defense."
Harvest Christian (21-3, 8-0) trailed just once, 10-9 late in the first quarter when Paris Chaney spun in a shot.
The Lions outscored the Eagles 22-6 over the next five minutes, capitalizing on 16 first-half turnovers. Iverson scored and was fouled on an out-of-bounds pass from Isamar Garcia, and a basket by Maddy Martin gave the Lions their biggest lead at 31-16.
Trailing 36-25 at halftime, the Eagles rallied in the third quarter behind Alex Fry and Chaney. Aurora Christian got as close as 40-37 when Fry opened the fourth quarter with one of her five steals that she took the other way for a layup.
Iverson helped Harvest regain control with a floater, then assisted Jenn Kasper for a corner 3, and knocked down a 3-point jumper of her own to go up 48-39.
Chaney scored the Eagles' final 6 points, but Aurora Christian never got closer than 49-43.
"Championship games will always give you a little nerves," Iverson said. "It's exciting playing good teams and it helps both teams. It was a good opportunity for us."
Martin and Kasper both added 8 points.
Aurora Christian turned the ball over 29 times to offset its 32-27 rebounding edge.
"We kind of struggled to get in the flow of the game because of how good they are defensively," Aurora Christian coach Burney Wilkie said. "For some reason in the second half we calmed down and did a much better job. I was really happy with how we battled in that third quarter."
Chaney led Aurora Christian with 18 points, Megan Hart had 10 points and 9 rebounds, and Tori Henning scored 9 points.
"Probably the best offensive game she's ever played," Wilkie said of Chaney. "To score 18 and draw the assignment on Iverson is not too bad."