Maroons, Whips tumble at Geneva

While the opening tip-off went in favor of the Elgin girls basketball team, a quick swipe by Wheaton Academy's Leah Fortune would expose Elgin's Achilles heal of the game -- turnovers.

The Warriors would go on to tally more than a dozen steals helping themselves to a 46-25 opening-round victory at the 20th Annual Geneva Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday.

"Turnovers killed us," said Elgin coach Angie Hudson. "I think we beat ourselves in this one."

Elgin got on the board first with a clean baseline shot off the hands of Ellen Holton with 7:05 left to play in the first quarter. Holton (10 points) would go on to score 6 of Elgin's 10 first-quarter points.

However, Wheaton Academy would counter offensively by concluding first quarter action with a 15-10 lead. The Warriors saw timely scoring from Fortune (9 points) and Jennifer Lee (8 points).

Elgin cut the lead down to 3 points early in the second quarter by taking advantage of some turnovers to make it 19-16, but that was as close as the Maroons would get.

Consistent scoring from the Warriors' Alexa Sharkey, who led all scorers with 13 points, matched by solid defense would prove to be too much for the Maroons to overcome.

"All in all, defense was the biggest key for us," said Warrior coach Beth Mitchell. "Our pressure gave them problems."

The Maroons were held to just 4 second-quarter points, allowing Wheaton Academy (1-1) to take a 24-16 lead into the second half.

The second half was all about converting on quality opportunities. Wheaton Academy outscored Elgin 22-9 behind better looks. Both teams continued to play solid defensively.

"I liked what I saw from our defense," said Hudson. "I think we can play defense with anybody out there."

The Maroons (0-2) scored 5 unanswered points, all on turnovers, to open the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to make up the deficit.

Wheaton Academy got it back controlling the ball for the final three minutes of the game.

"This was a true team win," said Mitchell. "Comparing this game to our last game, I saw some major improvements with our girls."

Holton had a big day on the boards recording 8 rebounds, and was matched by Wheaton Academy's Meghan Grant, who also pulled down 8 boards.

Brandi Hernandez (5 points, 4 steals), Caris Alan (4 points, 6 steals)and Giselle Bruskewitz (6 rebounds, 2 steals) contributed for the Maroons.

Rosary 54, Hampshire 34: Hampshire came out strong in opening round action of the Geneva tournament, taking a 12-10 first-quarter lead over Rosary, riding an 8-point performance from 5-foot-9 senior forward Mallory Koster (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) but a late first-quarter substitution by Rosary would prove to be a 'Royal' pain for the Whip-Purs.

Six-foot-4 center, Katie Eckberg (4 rebounds) entered the game with two minutes left to play in the first quarter and after blocking three quick Whip-Pur shot attempts from inside the paint, her defense became a catalyst for the Royal offense, which led Rosary to a 54-34 win.

"Katie took our dribble drive away from us," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett. "You cannot simulate 6-foot-4 in practice. Their entire defense really did an excellent job.

"I was a little frustrated with our decision making in the second quarter."

Hampshire's frustration quickly showed as Kelsey Watson sank a free throw just 20 seconds into the second quarter, which would later become the Whips' lone point of the quarter.

Rosary went on a 17-0 second quarter tear to conclude the first half of play with a 27-13 lead, and the Royals never looked back.

"We got off to a terrible start," said Rosary coach Dave Beebe. "A good team bounces back, and we were able to do that behind some nice offensive runs and a strong defensive effort.

"I give a lot of credit to our defense to hold a good team like Hampshire to just one point in the second quarter."

During the 17-0 offensive barrage, which would extend to 21 unanswered points after Rosary (3-0) dropped the first two shots of the third quarter, the Royals had contributions from all over the floor.

Most notably was guard Faith Jones, who led all scorers with 21 points.

"When we played Glenbard North I had taken a lot of shots and was getting frustrated because I kept missing," Jones said. "I had my mind set to keep shooting and keep trying. I knew that if we were going to win today, I would have to make them count."

Jones (6 rebounds) was backed by Jordan Rettig (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Colleen VanBogaert (7 points) as well as 3-point specialists Andrea DeKing and Nicole Ristick, who each came off the bench to sink one from long-distance during the 17-0 run.

"Today was a good shooting day," said Beebe. "We had been struggling previously so it was nice to see the girls come out and make some great runs."

The Whip-Purs (1-1) nearly doubled their offense in the second half with key contributions from Christina Heine (8 points), Gianina Estocado (5 points) and Jaclyn Clai (7 points). Heine (5 rebounds) and Cassie Dumoulin (6 rebounds) were each solid on the boards.

"We're still trying to find our identity," said Ellett. "I was happy with our post defense early. We didn't get hurt by them.

"We came down here for good competition which is exactly what we got. We're not here to pad our record. Rosary is a great team. They were a better team than us today."