Yohn reaches milestone in St. Edward's win

The St. Edward girls basketball team could not have come up with a better way to close out the home portion of its 2007-08 season.

Not only was it Senior Night, and all five Green Wave seniors had a hand in their team's win, but it was also a milestone evening for a standout junior.

The five Green Wave seniors combined for 38 points and junior stalwart Katie Yohn scored 28, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for her career, as the Wave downed St. Francis 66-60 in Suburban Catholic Conference action.

And the best keep secret on Locust Street is no longer a secret.

"I had no idea," Yohn said after the game, clutching the game ball presented to her by the coaching staff. "I kept asking my parents and they wouldn't tell me. I thought I was like 200 points away or something.

"I'm just so happy. I love my teammates so much. It's just so special. It's one of the greatest nights of my life. The seniors did so well tonight and I'm so proud of them. We played really well together tonight and that's the best part."

That the seniors did. Celeste VonAhnen had 11 points and 9 rebounds, Amanda DeBrocke scored 10 and had 9 rebounds, Kelly Knott had 9 points, Megan Pozezinski contributed 6 points and 7 rebounds, and Mackenzie Malone, who got a start, made 2 key free throws down the stretch to help keep the Spartans (10-13, 2-9) at bay.

"It's bittersweet because it's our last home game but it's great because St. Francis is our rival," said Knott, who said the toughest part of the night was keeping the 1,000 secret from Yohn.

"We finally put four quarters together tonight and it's been a while since we've done that. The senior leadership was great tonight."

St. Francis jumped ahead early and maintained the lead for the bulk of the first half as Yohn struggled, going 0-for-8 until she hit a layup with 3:30 left in the half.

Then she caught fire. Needing 11 points to become the 11th player in program history and the first since Lissa Fehlman in 2005 to reach 1,000 coming into the game, she had 8 and the basketball in her hands with 25 seconds left in the half and her team trailing 25-22. She dribbled uncontested before passing to Pozezinski, who turned and gave the ball back to Yohn. Yohn dribbled forward then stepped back behind the 3-point line and hit nothing but net to not only hit the 1,000 mark but to also tie the game at the break.

"Katie Yohn was just on fire," said St. Francis coach Leslie Dehn. "We guarded her pretty well but she hit some awful tough shots."

St. Edward (10-8, 6-4) slowly pulled away in the second half. Yohn scored 13 of her points in the third quarter and then made 14 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold off the pesky Spartans. The Wave's biggest lead was 13, 60-47, after 2 free throws from VonAhnen with 2:19 to play.

"We had a lot of girls step up tonight," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. "Megan, Amanda and Kelly Knott all hit some key baskets for us and that's what we need going into the postseason."

To St. Francis' credit, the Spartans never gave up. They hit 10 3-pointers in the game, including 5 in the fourth quarter as they tried to claw their way back into the game. Senior Cara DiBona led St. Francis with 16 points, including four 3-pointers while senior Christina Belniak and freshman Kelly Reinke had 12 each.

"They don't give up," said Dehn of her team. "It's been and up and down season but they played this one right to the end and never gave up."

But in the end, the night belonged to the St. Edward seniors and their junior leader.

"What a fun night," said Dawson. "Katie hit that 3-pointer at the half … that was really exciting. And the seniors did a great job tonight."

St. Charles North 65, Naperville North 34: The North Stars won their seventh straight as they handled the Huskies in Naperville. Anna Conrad connected on all six of her field goal attempts, for a game-high 14 points. Kelsey Smith added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Kiley Hackbarth had 7 points and 6 assists.

Rosary 59, Immaculate Conception 35:ŒJordan Rettig scored 22 points as the Royals (17-5, 9-2) picked up their ninth win in 10 games. Victoria Alvarez added 9 points, 12 assists and 6 steals.