Rosary hangs on; Saints fall
There was a precipitous decline in production after the first quarter, but Rosary found a way to outlast Glenbard North.
Despite single-digit scoring in each of the last three quarters, the Royals won their second nonconference game of the week, exploiting the Panthers' turnovers down the stretch to prevail 34-30 Thursday night in Aurora.
"We knew it wasn't going to be a high-scoring game," said Rosary coach Dave Beebe. "It never is when we play these guys."
The Royals (2-0) broke fast from the gate to sustain its virtual game-long lead.
Victoria Alvarez was all over the court for the Royals in the opening eight minutes, rebounding, disrupting the Panthers' passing lanes and adding a 3-pointer to give Rosary a 15-5 lead midway through the first.
"The first quarter was the cleanest of the game, both offensively and defensively," said Alvarez.
The Panthers (0-1) had a late surge to trail 17-12 after the opening quarter, and their prospects were further brightened by the shooting of Amoni Reynolds and the Royals' team-wide foul problems.
Alvarez went to the bench early in the second with her second foul, and Reynolds, who led all scorers with 16 points, had a 3-pointer to augment a pair of long conventional field goals in the first quarter.
"(Reynolds) is a very good shooter," said Glenbard North coach Mark Glenn.
Rosary, meanwhile, could only a manage single field goals from reserve guards Lane Richmond and Audrey Van Acker to nurse a 22-19 lead into halftime.
"We stopped looking to score," said Beebe. "We dug ourselves a hole (with foul troubles)."
Three Rosary starters, including Alvarez, were saddled with three fouls by the opening seconds of the third quarter, but the Royals received a major boost from sophomore center Katie Eckberg.
The Batavia resident had a personal 5-0 run to complement two split trips at the free-throw line by Rosary to extend the Royals third-quarter lead to 29-22 after Reynolds forged the lone tie of the game at 22-22.
"I was able to get some good looks off the high-low (post)," said Eckberg.
The Panthers' Nicolette Rini brought Glenbard North within 29-28 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but miscues on the offensive end undermined the squad throughout the fourth quarter.
"Turnovers killed us last year, too," said Glenn. "We have to be able to handle the ball to initiate our offense."
Eckberg led Rosary with 9 points and 9 rebounds.
Schaumburg 64, St. Charles East 32:ŒOnce Schaumburg's offense got moving, it was clear where the game was going.
The host Saxons ended the first quarter with a 16-2 run on their way to a 64-32 win in their second game of the 19th Schaumburg Thanksgiving tournament.
In the first half, Gabrielle Blackwell was solid and scored all of her 15 points.
"I think we went in pretty confident," Blackwell said. "We talked about moving the ball and after a few passes we were able to find the open person."
For the Saints, the game was quality time against a quality team.
"We knew Schaumburg was a really talented team," said St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra. "We're working our way to that. We have a lot of young players. We're still learning to play together."
Jamie Rust led the Saints with 9 points. Lexi Baltes and Shannon Kennedy added 5 apiece.
"I felt like we battled every single minute of the game," Drumtra said. "I was (pleased) with our effort tonight. We just got beat by a better team. I'm not disappointed because I knew it was going to be an uphill battle."
-- Bill Swick