Rosary rides inside game to championship

One dominant inside player? Batavia might have been able to handle that on Saturday night.

But Rosary hit the Bulldogs with a killer one-two inside punch, and the result was a knockout 58-38 result in the championship game of the Oswego Holiday Classic.

The title is Rosary's second straight in the Oswego pre-Christmas tournament, which features strong teams such as Glenbard East as well as the host Panthers.

"Two years in a row is awesome," Rosary's Jordan Rettig said. "It's a great feeling to come back and to be able to take it, especially since we lost a bunch of seniors. We really came together as a team to do it."

A number of those graduated Royals sat in the bleachers on Saturday and cheered the alma mater to victory, and what they saw was a dominant inside performance by Rettig and Katie Petrando.

Rettig, the tournament MVP, led the way with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Petrando finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

"I went to Batavia in middle school, and now I go to Rosary," Petrando said. "To be able to beat them is so awesome. I'm so excited, I don't even know how to put it into words."

The damage was mostly done by halftime, and largely in the second quarter. In that period, Rosary (12-3) outscored Batavia (9-1) 19-6. Rettig finished the first half with 16 points and Petrando had 8.

"We tried to work together as a team," Petrando said. "It worked and we got open shots inside."

Rettig got a series of inside shots in that first half and converted. She only made one basket in the second half, but converted 4-of-6 free throws and continued to be a nuisance to Batavia on both ends of the floor.

"We knew that we had to box out," Rettig said. "We did a good job working as a team on that, grabbing the boards."

By halftime, a game that was tied at 13 late in the first quarter stood 34-19 in Rosary's favor. Batavia struggled in all facets of play. The Bulldogs shot 5-for-20 and were stymied by a 2-3 zone the Royals implemented late in the half.

"I don't think we've seen a center who can move like (Rettig)," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said. "We've seen the size. Oswego had the same size. But Jordan is a heck of a player."

DeBruycker said the game plan had been to double team Rettig and make Rosary's guards decide the contest.

"We just did not do that," DeBruycker said. "We did not double down effectively. We did not execute the game plan."

Batavia scored a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter - one by Sara Fruendt and one by Kara Lydon, who finished with a team-high 17 points.

"In the second quarter, when (Rosary) started making a run and we quit, that was the most baffling part of tonight," DeBruycker said.

Natalie Tarter added 14 points for Batavia. Rettig, Petrando and Rosary's Stephanie Haugen joined Tarter and Lydon on the all-tournament team.