St. Charles East shoots for Scott, beats Batavia
A few days off wasn't exactly what St. Charles East needed, but the Saints overcame it on Shoot for Scott night Friday.
With the school closed Tuesday and Wednesday and no practice, the Saints shook off some rust in a 56-41 win over Batavia.
St. Charles East (15-4, 5-1) had some of its team members among the 800-plus students sick.
"I expected us to be a little rusty and we were," Saints coach Lori Drumtra said. "Our free-throw shooting was terrible (5 of 12). And rebounding, we looked a little slow to the ball. Some of that is just being off. We'll get it back."
"It's been hard having no school with this sickness going around but we really stuck together," point guard Sam Munroe said. "We're feeling confident and good."
It was an emotional night for the senior Munroe, whose father Scott was honored with a night to raise money for cancer. Scott passed away from kidney cancer before Sam's freshman year, and she addressed the crowd before both the girls and boys game.
Many in the crowd wore Never Forgotten shirts for Scott Munroe, and community members donated money based on how many points the Saints scored. Munroe did her part with 12 points. She was one of four Saints in double figures with Sara Rosenfeldt leading with 18 points, Nichole Jordan scoring 14 and Marissa Urso had 11.
"It's really touching because I really wanted to do something for my dad this year," Munroe said. "I'm just really excited to have a game honored for him. Obviously I play every game for him but to actually have it mentioned out there is really nice and touching."
After Batavia (5-13, 2-4) rallied from a 6-0 deficit to start the game to pull even at 16-16 on Hailey Orman's jumper midway through the second quarter, the Saints took command with their 3-point shooting.
Urso canned a 3 from the corner to take a 19-16 lead, then hit one from the top of the key. Jordan followed with back-to-back 3s to end the half with a 28-20 lead.
"We have a lot of good, talented guards wo can hit the 3," Munroe said. "They are very consistent. It seems like they always go in. They are ready at all times. They are always moving and try to open themselves up and get the shot."
Urso opened the third quarter with another 3, and the Saints gradually stretched their lead to 51-30 early in the fourth. They made nine 3s in the game.
Batavia, who was led by Geddy Rerko with 13 points, Ava Sergio 10 and Orman 8, used a 9-0 run to get within 12 before Rosenfeldt answered with 5 straight points.
"I thought the last two minutes of the first half and the first two minutes of the second half were what undid us," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "Other than that I thought we played a pretty decent ballgame."