IC ready for rematch with Rosary
Like a couple boxers post-fight, Taylor Reaber could scarcely offer a handshake and Kasey Reaber bore a bandage on her bloodied nose.
But they won Round 2 with Rosary.
Immaculate Conception led nearly from start to finish on Tuesday night in Elmhurst, avenging a loss 17 days prior with a 59-53 win.
"Having a healthy Taylor Reaber made a huge difference," IC coach Dan Murray said, "but the whole team really stepped up and played much better. Our last time, give all the credit to Rosary, they dominated us from start to finish. I don't think we were prepared to come to play and do the necessary things to compete with teams of that caliber. The girls played very well tonight. I'm very proud of them."
Kasey Reaber matched a season-high with 24 points, to go with a game-high 9 rebounds from her point guard position and 8 assists. An inadvertant shot to the face with three minutes left in the fourth quarter knocked Reaber out of the game briefly, but she returned 22 seconds later to hit 3 free throws in the final minutes. A trip to the emergency room later confirmed that Reaber's nose was broken.
"I've been rebounding," said Kasey Reaber, perhaps most proud of that number. "That's something coach Murray and I have talked a lot about, is crashing the boards. I'm like the second-tallest player on our team. Sometimes the tallest on the floor."
Like many of her teammates, Reaber was out of sync offensively in the first meeting, a game in which IC managed just 7 first-half points. But she hit her first 4 shots Tuesday, scoring twice in the post on feeds from Taylor Reaber and twice more on hard drives to the hoop. The second bolt to the basket gave IC, which hit its first 6 shots as a team, the lead for good at 8-6. It was 27-18 by halftime.
"We knew we wanted to come back and show them what kind of basketball team we are," Kasey Reaber said. "We came out very strong and ran our stuff. We have many options, many plays. We just hit the open person."
Taylor Reaber, a shell of her usual self while suffering from a bad virus in the first game, didn't leave the floor on Tuesday. She scored 18 points, 16 in the second half, with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. After Rosary cut a 14-point IC lead to 44-36 with 6:57 left, Taylor Reaber answered with a 3-pointer and a free throw to push the lead back to double figures.
"I was so looking forward to this game," Taylor Reaber said. "Sitting on the sidelines that last game and watching it and really wanting to be in there was very difficult. I thought tonight was one of our best games of the season."
Rosary's Jordan Rettig poured in 31 points from the post, hitting an efficient 14 of 18 shots from the field. But Royals coach Dave Beebe sounded an awful lot like Murray after the first meeting in Aurora.
"They set the tone," Beebe said, "but we didn't really play our game either. We just seemed like we were lifeless. Some of the girls seemed like they were 100 percent ready to play but others, I don't know if they were looking forward to Senior Night (Thursday) or what. Honestly I don't have an answer. But give (IC) credit. They played a heck of a game."
Breann Maryanski added 8 points and Katie Eckberg 7 for Rosary (18-6, 6-3 Suburban Christian Blue). Allie DiVito 8 points for IC (24-3, 6-3), which also held its own on the boards. The bigger Royals outrebounded IC 29-23, but had just 6 offensive rebounds.
"We stood up to them early on," Murray said. "Tonight we hung in there and held our own. We established our presence inside more tonight, which was a big difference."