Rosary's defense swarms Elgin

There are certain keys to success that a program in transition can establish while it waits for the rest to come around.

Defensive intensity is one of those, and the young Rosary Royals proved Saturday that it's one area where they are capable of excelling.

The Rosary defense swarmed all over Elgin's ballhandlers in their opening round game of the Geneva Invitational, using 8 Maroon turnovers in the opening 4 minutes to build a 23-5 lead after one quarter.

"We came out really well," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "Most of the week our focus was on defense, and I was happy with that part of our game today."

With Lane Richmond running the offense, the Royals knocked the Maroons back on their heels, and kept them there throughout the first half.

"Offensively, we had a pretty good game," Beebe said. "Our guards showed that they can play really well, and I was very happy with our post players."

With Elgin's Ellen Holton forced to sit down after committing a quick pair fouls, the Royals tore off a 31-1 run, opening a 33-5 lead midway through the second quarter, on the way to a 65-34 win.

"That took us out of our game, and we didn't have much on offense after that," Elgin coach Angie Hudson said. "We were not ready to play at all today. There was a real lack of enthusiasm at the start of the game, and Rosary had a heck of a first half."

Without much resistance underneath, Rosary junior Jordan Rettig was free to operate at will, scoring 19 of her game high 25 points in the opening half.

"We've worked on being more aggressive as a team, and that really helps with rebounding," Rettig said.

Rettig's 10 rebounds were part of a 44-22 advantage Rosary enjoyed on the boards.

When Rettig wasn't exploiting holes in the Elgin defense, Katie Petrando was, scoring 15 points to go with 12 boards.

"We wanted to put a lot of pressure on them," Petrando said.

Though Rosary (2-0) led 40-14 after two quarters, the Maroons came out energized and on the attack after the break.

"At the half I talked to a couple of kids who are usually our leaders, and that seemed to make a difference," Hudson said.

The Maroons did a much better job of taking care of the ball at the start of the second half, and though that effort did not always translate into points, the way his team responded did give Beebe some cause for concern.

"At times we looked like a really good team, at other times we looked like a team that still has a lot of work to do in practice," Beebe said.

Holton led the Maroons (1-1) with 14 points in limited time.

Stephanie Haugen joined teammates Rettig and Petrando in double-digit scoring with 14 points.