Rosary shakes off slow start, beats ACC
Rosary took the court at the start of the second quarter wearing its same white uniforms with royal blue lettering that it had to start the game.
The way they played, though, looked like an entirely new team.
Rosary's 16-0 surge started a suffocating stretch over the final three quarters. The Royals cruised from there for a 49-22 win over Aurora Central in a Suburban Christian crossover.
The 27-point final margin stood in stark contrast to a first quarter that ended with Rosary ahead 8-7.
"Our first quarter was not what we expected," Rosary senior guard Stephanie Haugen said. "We figured out we weren't playing real well and got angry at ourselves for doing that and it made us come back in the second, third and fourth quarters and obviously we picked it up."
Haugen did her part with a game-high 17 points. She scored half of Rosary's points in that 16-0 run, including a pair of 3-pointers. Haugen also helped on the defensive end with 5 steals.
"Steph stepped up big tonight," said Rosary coach Dave Beebe, who like Haugen was disappointed with the team's start.
"To come off a nice weekend, just to come out, I don't want to say lazy but as flat as we did, I don't like that," Beebe said. "These guys (ACC) are busting their butt against us and we're just kind of walking through. We can't have that against them or anyone else."
Stretching their 11-9 lead to 27-9, Rosary (15-4) used its full-court press to force turnover after turnover. Aurora Central (9-9) committed 10 in the second quarter which coupled with 1-of-6 shooting created a deficit the Chargers never recovered from.
That was a far cry from the first six minutes, when Jacqueline Cardona, Katilyn Rosa and Ashley Wilk all scored to build a 7-3 lead. The Royals shot 3 of 18 from the field in the first quarter.
"That (the first quarter) was the team we've been all season and then we let old habits come in," Chargers coach Mark Fitzgerald said. "Hats off to those (Rosary) seniors. It's a valuable lesson for our girls."
Rosary certainly had the experience on its side, starting four seniors while the Chargers have been going with four sophomores much of the year.
One of those sophomores, Cardona, scored 12 points. The rest of the Chargers combined for 10 in their season-low 22-point total.
"Jacqui Cardona, she's a wonderful player, she can't do it by herself," Fitzgerald said. "We can't have a situation where it's one-on-five. Our girls got a little psyched out."
Rosary senior Katie Eckberg came off the bench to score 11 points. She also blocked 4 shots.
Rettig led the Royals' 40-28 rebounding advantage with 16. The school's all-time leading scorer also has a shot at the all-time rebound record, especially after games like Tuesday and her 19 against St. Edward last Friday.
The game doesn't count in the Suburban Christian standings. Aurora Central is 3-1 in its division, with its only loss to Wheaton Academy, and Fitzgerald hopes to use Tuesday as a teaching tool.
"We're nine wins from three (last year), the progress is there, but they need to understand they have to play the whole game," Fitzgerald said. "You have to let the mistakes roll off your back.
"Why I am upset is not because we lost but we let old habits come in. They need to understand that that's the dead and gone ACC. You can't play as well as we did in the first quarter and then have a brain cramp the next three quarters."
Correction: In the past two stories about Rosary, we mistakenly said there are 960 students that attend Rosary. Rosary has 472 students.