Rosary tops West Aurora with rebounding, defense
Rosary used a home recipe of defense, rebounding and balanced scoring to remedy its Thanksgiving woes.
After a fruitless week at Geneva, the Royals' girls basketball team scored the final 16 points of the first quarter in its neighborhood rivalry game with West Aurora on Tuesday night en route to a 49-37 victory.
The home win snapped a four-game Rosary slide (2-4) while extending the Blackhawks' season-opening skid to six games.
Brenda Rocha and Breann Maryanski were the main catalysts for the Royals at both ends of the court.
Rocha, a junior guard, amassed 9 of her game-high 17 rebounds in the opening quarter as West Aurora never scored in the frame again after Alexis Nelson opened the game with a 3-pointer.
With the Blackhawks, who shot 27 perfect from the field (15-for-55), misfiring on their last 10 shots of the quarter, Rosary responded with a 16-point unanswered blitz.
"We wanted to get off to a good start," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "We knew (the Blackhawks) were going to be scrappy."
Maryanski, limited by fouls in the first half, match the 10 points Rocha authored and collected 9 of her 12 rebounds on the offensive end.
"That's my favorite (type of) rebounding," the three-year varsity member said. "I just try to get in there and box out hard."
Point guard Courtney Bila, Rachel Rivera and Brittney Hutchinson combined for 14 points of the Royals' first-quarter output, but West Aurora made its anticipated run in the second quarter.
The Blackhawks used pressure defense to intensify the pace, and their proficiency off the offensive glass paid dividends as well.
West Aurora could have been much closer than its 21-15 deficit at the break, but the squad suffered from the free-throw line, missing 11 of its 13 first-half attempts.
"We have to make our free throws," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said. "We have to cut down on our mistakes. Because they're so young, they're not following the game plan."
Rocha spearheaded another Rosary run in the third quarter to quickly reestablish the Royals' double-digit lead.
The guard scored 7 of her 10 points in the third quarter after snaring 14 first-half rebounds.
"I guess I gravitate toward the ball," Rocha said. "Once they started coming back (in the second quarter), we got a little flustered."
"That's a great effort for (Rocha)," Beebe said.
Rosary stretched its lead to 16 points early in the fourth quarter, 41-26, but West Aurora closed strong as senior post Royalle Brown (10 rebounds) scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the final quarter.
"They just have to believe in themselves," Siljendahl said of her team that has five freshmen seeing notable minutes.