Rosary makes it look easy against W. Aurora

The neighborhood rivalry game swung to Rosary midway through the first quarter, and West Aurora had few solutions for the Royals' twin inside posts.

Rosary junior center Katie Eckberg dominated the defensive interior with 6 blocked shots, and Jordan Rettig scored a team-high 19 points.

Then there was Katie Petrando. The senior small forward added 15 points, 8 rebounds and a game-high 6 assists as Rosary defeated West Aurora 74-49 in girls basketball action on its home court in Aurora Tuesday night.

"That was our game plan, to use their size and get the ball inside," said Rosary coach Dave Beebe.

"We didn't have anything to answer to those two (Eckberg and Rettig)," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said.

The Blackhawks (1-5) had three leads in the first four minutes of the game, but Rosary (5-1) seized the upper hand and never let off the throttle. Eckberg had half of her blocks in the opening quarter, and not even the second consecutive brilliant performance by West Aurora senior guard Bri Tye could keep the Royals from establishing a large first-half cushion.

For the second game in a row Tye scored a game-high 24 points, matching the four 3-pointers she drained against Waubonsie Valley on Saturday afternoon, but Rosary had too many weapons. Combining second-chance points with precision inside play, Rosary outscored West Aurora 15-5 in the second quarter to take a 35-18 lead into halftime.

"We really just tried to work as a team," Rettig said. "Everybody did their part. We were all boxing out well."

The Royals had a second-half meltdown in the championship game against Geneva last Friday at the Vikings' Thanksgiving tournament, and there was to be no repeat in front of the home folks.

"We put (the Geneva game, a 85-53 loss) behind us," Petrando said.

The Royals fashioned the first of several 20-point leads two minutes into the third quarter, and Rettig scored 8 of her points during the frame. West Aurora, meanwhile, was forced to use an almost-exclusive perimeter offense to score.

"We're not in sync," Siljendahl said. "We were in the same situation this time last year. My biggest concern right now is our defense."

Petrando closed out the Royals' third-quarter scoring with another second-chance field goal, giving Rosary a commanding 54-31 lead entering the final quarter.

"I think (Petrando) has the ability to dominate," Beebe said. "Even against a team like West Aurora, she is hard to stop."

Devin Vaughn had 14 points for the Blackhawks.