Aurora Central overtakes Rosary
Aurora Central opened its Saturday afternoon game at Rosary with a case of nerves, then displayed nerves of steel the rest of the way at the free-throw line.
Sinking 26 of 31 free-throw attempts, Aurora Central made Rosary’s 11-0 start just a footnote to a second straight win over its rival this season, this time 57-44 to bring the Chargers one victory away from the 20-win milestone.
“We just calmed down our nerves and started playing our game,” Aurora Central senior Jackie Cardona said. “I think we were over-pumped for the game.”
Rosary (9-15, 3-6) started the scoring with an inside bucket from Maddie Kombrink. Taylor Gibson canned a 3 and Karly Tate knocked down a pull-up jumper to force Chargers coach Mark Fitzgerald into an early timeout down 7-0.
That didn’t immediately stem the tide as two more jumpers from Courtney Bila and Gibson made it 11-0 until Katilyn Rosa put the Chargers on the board with a 3-point play. Cardona followed with a steal and another 3-point play, giving Aurora Central 6 points in just four seconds and quickly putting it right back in the game.
By the time Alex DeCraene swished a corner 3 to close the first quarter, Rosary’s lead was down to 15-12.
“Couple 3-point pays, I think those 3 points added up real fast,” Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. “The one kid we don’t want to leave for 3 gets wide open. I think that was a momentum-changer right there.”
Aurora Central (19-5, 5-3) took its first lead at 19-18 on a 3 from Tess Alderman, and then closed the first half on a 12-2 run to go up 33-22 at halftime.
Rosa scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half and Alderman had all 9 of her points as Aurora Central’s seniors helped settle the team down after the shaky start.
“Every time we come here there is a lot of emotion and there is a lot of adrenaline,” Fitzgerald said. “They (Rosary) don’t want to lose to us and knocked us back a little bit but the mark of a good team is someone that can come back and take a good punch — and we took several — chip way at it which we did. It’s a veteran team and did not let it get to them.”
The Royals made one push at Aurora Central in the second half, closing to 36-30 on a 3 from Bila and Tate’s hard drive.
Aurora Central outscored Rosary 8-3 to end the third quarter getting 6 of those points at the free-throw line.
“We fouled way too much,” Beebe said. “Credit to them, that’s good free-throw shooting. They are a very well disciplined team. They have really turned it around and have a lot of talent. That’s a credit to the players and coaches.”
The Chargers led by as many as 17 points on three occasions in the fourth quarter. Kayla Emory’s jumper helped close the final margin for Rosary.
Rosary actually made 2 more shots from the field than Aurora Central but was outscored by 17 at the free-throw line. Cardona led the way making 11 of her 12 attempts.
“We practice that an awful lot and they take pride with that,” Fitzgerald said.
Cardona led all scorers with 17 points. Rosa (13) and DeCraene (11) joined her in double figures.
Bila paced Rosary with 10 points followed by Tate with 9 and Gibson 8.
“We got the start we wanted,” Beebe said. “We talked about playing four complete quarters and we played one complete quarter. Our kids worked hard, hustled hard but our shooting (16 of 56 for 28 percent) was brutal.”
Aurora Central closes its regular season next week looking for a second win over Walther Lutheran Monday and trying to avenge a loss to St. Edward on Senior Night Friday.
It’s a senior class that has set a new standard at Aurora Central. You can see that in several ways: the won-loss record, the way they have turned the series with Rosary, and perhaps by how far they go as a No. 1 seed when the Class 2A tournament begins in two weeks. Cardona said the team’s goal is to get to state.
“I’m very proud of that (5-3 SCC record) because we are in the tough conference,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m extremely proud of what the kids have done.”
“Hopefully we can get it (losses to ACC) turned around next year but he’s got a good squad,” Beebe said. “I’m glad for him. It’s good for the area. I told him when he took over they can win all their games except when they play us.”