IC wins easily against Aurora Christian
Immaculate Conception opened Tuesday's Suburban Christian Conference crossover game with a 14-0 run and cruised to a 55-19 victory over Aurora Christian in Elmhurst.
Defense was the key for the Knights (19-2) in the first half. Aggressive play by the Knights and constant movement on the ball lead to 18 Aurora Christian turnovers in the first half and a 31-7 halftime lead for the Knights.
"That's what we rely on and that's what we pride ourselves on is our defense," IC coach Dan Murray said. "I thought the kids played hard defensively, worked on fundamentals defensively, communicated well, which is one thing we have stressed."
Immaculate Conception spread the ball around like it was butter on toast. Nine players put points on the board for the Knights. The team was lead by Junior guard Kasey Reaber with 16 points.
Reaber got the ball rolling from the beginning, opening the game up with a quick steal and a lay up and never looked back.
"I just played how I usually play," Reaber said. "If I get points great, if I don't I'm still fine with it."
Besides the in-your-face defense another major key was the constant ball movement and the contributions from everyone who played for the Knights. The Knights managed to get to the free-throw line 15 times and knocked down 8.
"You make yourself that much more difficult to defend whenever everybody is contributing. We had great ball moment, everybody played very well tonight," Murray said.
Aurora Christian had trouble finding the basket all night in the loss. The Eagles only managed 7 field goals.
"We just have to keep working hard," Eagles coach Dan Stone said. "We could of played a lot better, these are the kind of games you have to learn from."
There were a few positive that Aurora Christian could take from the game. The low-post play of Alyssa Henzel, who scored 8, was a bright spot for Stone, who was also happy with the play of his younger players.
Immaculate Conception is continuing to enjoy the finest season in the school's girls basketball history.
"We just came off a loss to Montini, so we just wanted to come out and get the job done," Reaber said.