Rosary delivers fast start

Rosary's girls basketball team was focused on getting off to a fast start in Monday night's season opener at IMSA.

The Royals did that, and then some, as they ran off to a 17-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 68-30 win.

"It was a good start and a good game for us, but we still have a lot of things to work on," Rosary point guard Victoria Alvarez said.

Defense was the key for the Royals. It was Alvarez and Faith Jones who did most of the damage along the perimeter as they combined for 9 steals, and forced just as many additional turnovers through intimidation.

"We've been working a lot on our helping defense," Jones said. "When Victoria or I were defending, someone else would slide over and we would double-team the ball."

When IMSA (0-1) did manage to work the ball inside, 6-foot-2 sophomore Katie Eckberg was usually waiting to intimidate them.

"I really like playing defense," Eckberg said. "If you work hard, you can do so much on defense."

Eckberg swatted away 6 shots and the Royals kept IMSA from generating any consistent offense in the first half.

"Our post players are not going to get pushed around or muscled all over the place, and we've definitely got a bunch of shot-blockers," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "Everything this year is going to start with our defense."

After closing out the opening quarter with a 19-4 lead, the Royals carried a 31-9 cushion into the break.

"In the second quarter we got into a lull, and I wanted to see us play the same way that we had at the start of the game," Beebe said.

Beebe got his wish as the Royals turned up the intensity in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

When Colleen VanBogaert drained back-to-back 3s, she extended Rosary's lead to 49-14 late in the third quarter.

"We have a nice inside game as well as some outside shooters," Beebe said. "If an opponent takes one away from us we can go to the other."

The big lead gave Beebe a chance to get several players some valuable floor time.

"We have a lot of new faces, and we're still trying to find our rotation," Beebe said.

Rosary had a few problems with erratic shooting and turnovers but that could be attributed to early season rust.

Jones and Jordan Rettig led the Royals with 12 points, VanBogaert and Eckberg each added 10.

"We've got kids stepping up to score," Beebe said. "In past years it would be one or two, but now we've got kids coming off the bench and scoring."