Belvidere North ends Aurora Central’s best season

It didn’t take long for Aurora Central coach Mark Fitzgerald’s worst fears about facing Belvidere North to come true Monday night.

The Blue Thunder’s full-court press most worried the Chargers coach, and it took 79 seconds of the Class 3A Burlington Central sectional semifinal for Belvidere North to show Aurora Central just how lethal that press can be.

The Chargers fell behind 7-0 in that first 1:19 of the game on their way to 16-1 and 20-3 deficits in the first quarter. Aurora Central couldn’t solve the pressure all night, committing 18 of its 28 turnovers in the first half of a 55-22 loss.

Belvidere North (21-8) will play the winner of tonight’s Montini-Hampshire matchup for the sectional title Thursday night. The best season in Aurora Central history ends at 19-10.

“Sometimes you run into someone that’s that much better. They were an excellent team,” Fitzgerald said. “We talked about not doing the bonehead things tonight, not having the unforced errors and we just had a lot of them.”

Fitzgerald said Walther Lutheran was the only team on the Chargers’ schedule that had a press like Belvidere North’s, and even that one couldn’t compare. The Blue Thunder seemed quicker at every position, making it hard for Aurora Central to even get into its offense.

“I think that (press) exposed some holes that we need to work on. That did rattle our girls. I thought about using every timeout,” said Fitzgerald, who called two in the first quarter.

Aurora Central entered the game on a roll after beating Rosary for the second time this season last Thursday to win the IMSA regional, its first regional crown.

The Chargers left discouraged by the margin but also knowing they have four starters back next year and now a first-hand experience of what needs to improve when they make the jump up to the harder of the two Suburban Christian Conference divisions.

“We were on such a big high from Rosary,” Chargers junior Ashley Wilk said. “Rosary is such a big accomplishment for us and then to come here and get blown out is tough.

“It was definitely our mistakes. Yes they are very good but it was our mistakes that affected it. It could have been a lot closer.”

Aurora Central had no answer for Belvidere senior forward Cetrena Simmons who scored almost as many points (21) as the Chargers while siting out much of the game.

The two bright spots for the Chargers in the first half came at the end of both quarters. Down 20-3, the Chargers went on a 6-2 run to end the first quarter on baskets by Wilk, Jacqui Cardona and Katilyn DeRosa to pull within 22-9 after one.

The Chargers made a similar mini-spurt at the end of the second quarter, a 5-0 stretch that brought them within 33-16 at halftime.

“We had a nice little run in the second quarter when we were playing defense, finally scoring baskets,” Fitzgerald said.

The Blue Thunder quickly reestablished their dominance in the second half. Simmons scored their first 7 points of the third quarter to open a 40-18 lead.

Aurora Central couldn’t buy a basket for much of the second half, finishing 3 of 16 from the field for just 6 second-half points.

Natalie Steinwart provided some steady play off the bench with 8 points and 7 rebounds. Wilk also scored 8 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while leading scorer Cardona was the focus of Belvidere’s defense and held to 2 points, over 13 below her average.

“I think they expended so much energy to fight the full court press that some of our better players were spent,” Fitzgerald said. “We pride ourselves on our conditioning and finishing every game and that team pushed us to the limit tonight.”

Fitzgerald said he’s looking forward to seeing what Cardona, Wilk, Katilyn Rosa and company can do in their senior seasons next year, and he also had plenty of encouraging words for this year’s history-making team to remember.

“I can’t take away from what the girls in that locker room did for this program this year,” Fitzgerald said. “Yeah, we had a bad game tonight there’s no doubt about it. But they are always going to be that team that did the first regional, the best record. they are always going to be that team.”