Rosary continues dominance vs. Chicago Christian
It's not hard to understand why Chicago Christian coach Brad Engbers is glad his team is through with Rosary this year.
The Knights have had their share of success, including two wins over St. Francis, victories against Wheaton Academy and St. Edward, and a 4-point loss to Immaculate Conception just six days ago.
But when matched up against Rosary? It's lights out for the Knights.
The Royals outscored Chicago Christian 46-13 over the middle two quarters Thursday to take a 35-point lead, then settled for a 55-39 victory when the Knights rallied against Rosary's second and third string in the fourth quarter.
The lopsided win Thursday follows a 53-17 margin in the first meeting between these teams.
"We just have not played well against these guys at all," Engbers said. "These guys just have our number. And they have some great players."
Rosary (18-5) completely flustered Chicago Christian (10-13) with its 1-2-1-1 full-court press, forcing 26 turnovers in the first half. The Royals' knockout punch came in the first 62 seconds of the second quarter when Rosary scored 8 points to turn a modest 9-5 lead after the first quarter into 17-5.
Rosary's all-time leading scorer Jordan Rettig added 23 points to her total, 13 of them in the second quarter when the Royals outscored the Knights 23-9 to lead 32-14 at halftime.
"They came out and pressed us very well," Engbers said. "Our turnovers were just awful. We looked like we were not ready to play at all."
While Royals coach Dave Beebe called off the press to start the second half, Rosary kept clicking on both ends. The Royals led 53-18 after three quarters.
Chicago Christian didn't quit in the fourth quarter, scoring the first 17 points to trim the 35-point deficit to 53-35. Beebe brought his starters back in briefly with 2:32 remaining after one of Rosary's 13 fourth-quarter turnovers.
"He (Engbers) said his goal was to get our starters back in and he did it," Beebe said. "I told our kids we have to get a little better bench for the playoffs."
Beebe did get a couple nice plays from his bench, including 3-pointers by both freshman Madison Richmond and sophomore Courtney Bila. Carey DeKing chipped in with 2 steals, joining Lane Richmond, Stephanie Haugen, Katie Petrando, Breann Maryanski and Rettig as Royals who finished with multiple thefts.
Haugen joined Rettig in double figures with 12 points while Rettig (9 rebounds) and Maryanski (8) led the Royals' rebounding effort.
Becky DeRuiter scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter for the Knights.