Wheaton Academy trounces Elgin

While the opening tip-off went in favor of the Elgin girls basketball team, a quick swipe by Wheaton Academy's Leah Fortune exposed Elgin's Achilles' heel, turnovers.

The Warriors went on to tally more than a dozen steals, helping themselves to a 46-25 opening-round victory in pool play of the 20th annual Geneva Thanksgiving Tournament.

"Turnovers killed us," said Elgin coach Angie Hudson. "I think we beat ourselves in this one."

Elgin got on the boards first with a clean base shot off the hands of Ellen Holton with 7:05 left to play in the first quarter. Holton scored 6 of Elgin's 10 first-quarter points.

However, Wheaton Academy countered offensively, concluding first-quarter action with a 15-10 lead. The Warriors saw timely scoring from Fortune and Jenn Lee.

Elgin cut the lead down to 3 points early in the second quarter taking advantage of some turnovers of their own to make it 19-16, but that was as close as they would get.

Consistent scoring from the Warriors' Alexa Sharkey, who led all scorers with 13 points, matched by solid defense would prove to be too much for the Maroons to overcome.

"All and all, defense was the biggest key for us," said Warriors coach Beth Mitchell. "Our pressure gave them problems."

The Maroons were held to just 4 second-quarter points, allowing Wheaton Academy (1-1) to take a 24-16 lead into the second half.

The second half was all about converting on quality opportunities.

Wheaton Academy outscored Elgin 22-9 behind better looks. Both teams continued to play solid defensively.

"I liked what I saw from our defense," Hudson said. "I think we can play defense with anybody out there."

The Maroons (0-2) scored 5 unanswered points all on turnovers to open the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to make up the deficit.

Wheaton Academy got it back controlling the ball for the final three minutes of the game.

"This was a true team win," Mitchell said. "Comparing this game to our last game, I saw some major improvements with our girls."

Holton had a big day on the boards recording 8 rebounds, and was matched by Wheaton Academy's Meghan Grant who also pulled down 8 boards.

Brandi Hernandez, Caris Alan and Giselle Bruskewitz helped the Maroons.

Both teams will continue play Tuesday night. Wheaton Academy will face Antioch at 5:30 p.m., and the Maroons will go up against tournament host, Geneva at 7 p.m.

-- Jen LaPorte

Rosary 54, Hampshire 34: Hampshire came out strong in opening round action of the Geneva tournament, taking a 12-10 first-quarter lead over Rosary, riding an 8-point performance from 5-foot-9 senior forward Mallory Koster but a late first-quarter substitution by Rosary would prove to be a "Royal" pain for the Whip-Purs.

Six-foot-4 center, Katie Eckberg entered the game with two minutes left to play in the first quarter and after blocking three quick Whip-Pur shot attempts from inside the paint, her defense became a catalyst for the Royals offense, which led Rosary to a 54-34 win.

"Katie took our dribble drive away from us," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett. "You cannot simulate 6-foot-4 in practice. Their entire defense really did an excellent job.

"I was a little frustrated with our decision making in the second quarter."

Hampshire's frustration quickly showed as Kelsey Watson sank a free throw just 20 seconds into the second quarter, which would later become the Whips' lone point of the quarter.

Rosary went on a 17-0 second-quarter tear to conclude the first half of play with a 27-13 lead, and the Royals never looked back.

"We got off to a terrible start," said Rosary coach Dave Beebe. "A good team bounces back, and we were able to do that behind some nice offensive runs and a strong defensive effort.

"I give a lot of credit to our defense to hold a good team like Hampshire to just one point in the second quarter."

During the 17-0 offensive barrage, which would extend to 21 unanswered points after Rosary (3-0) dropped the first two shots of the third quarter, the Royals had contributions from all over the floor.

Most notably was guard Faith Jones, who led all scorers with 21 points.

"When we played Glenbard North I had taken a lot of shots and was getting frustrated because I kept missing," Jones said. "I had my mind set to keep shooting and keep trying. I knew that if we were going to win today, I would have to make them count."

Jones was backed by Jordan Rettig and Colleen VanBogaert as well as 3-point specialists Andrea DeKing and Nicole Ristick, who each came off the bench to sink one from long-distance during the 17-0 run.

"Today was a good shooting day," Beebe said. "We had been struggling previously so it was nice to see the girls come out and make some great runs."

"We're still trying to find our identity," Ellett said. "I was happy with our post defense early. We didn't get hurt by them.

"We came down here for good competition which is exactly what we got. We're not here to pad our record. Rosary is a great team. They were a better team than us today."

-- Jen LaPorte

Wheaton North 53, Providence 51: At Geneva, Michelle Scandora's 2 free throws with 3.2 seconds left provided the edge for Wheaton North (1-0). The Falcons, who hit 6-of-9 3-pointers, were led by Allie Cerone's 14 points and Scandora's 11.

Waubonsie Valley 56, Huntley 37: At the WarHawk Tournament, Alexis Delgado, Brittany Upshaw and Jessica Morice each scored 10 points to lead Waubonsie Valley (2-0). Morice added 3 steals.

Addison Trail 49, Glenbard East 47: The Blazers nipped tournament host Glenbard East behind Erika Spear's 20 points and 12 points from Jasmine Little. Kelsey Taylor scored 12 for Glenbard East.

St. Francis 55, Machesney Park Harlem 51: At Burlington Central, St. Francis (3-0) overcame a 42-38 deficit after three quarters. Spartan Catherine Culligan's 24 points for tied for scoring honors with Harlem's Ashley Pillow.

Hinsdale Central 63, Larkin 31: In the second quarter Toni Kokenis made four 3-point baskets and scored 18 of her game-high 24 points to lead the Red Devils in Saturday's first game at Hinsdale South's Lady Hornet Tournament.

Neuqua Valley 47, Plainfield Central 39: Also at Hinsdale South, Neuqua Valley got 12 points from Katie Medvec and 10 from Beth Goldberg.

York 47, Hinsdale South 42: York's Amanda Heuser scored 17 points and Courtney Owens added 14 to defeat the tourney hosts. Hinsdale South was led by Kelly Payne with 9 points.

Willowbrook 60, East Aurora 35: Tourney host Willowbrook (2-0) made 17 of 25 free throws and hit seven 3-pointers to beat East Aurora (1-1). Ashley Kanelos scored 16 points, Colette Williams had 15 and Taylor Nelson notched 11 points, with three 3s. Willowbrook's Danielle Muhlena scored 8 points with 10 rebounds.

Timothy Christian 41, Immaculate Conception 37: At IMSA, Katie Dirkse and Kelly Buma each scored 8 points to lead Timothy Christian (2-1).

Fenton 48, South Elgin 43 (OT): Tourney host Fenton was led by a game-high 20 points from Samantha Rubright, who made 12 of 14 free throws.

Hoffman Estates 54, Lake Park 50: Also at Fenton, Lake Park surrendered a 5-point lead after three quarters. Lake Park's Samantha Arnold made four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 25 points.