Aurora Central Catholic stuffs East Aurora
With as much trouble as Aurora Central Catholic was having putting points on the board early against East Aurora Wednesday at Oswego East's Holiday Tournament, it's a good thing the Chargers have 6-foot-3 Taylor Harazin on their side.
Harazin scored the Chargers' first 10 points. She finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, leading her team to a 38-33 victory.
The Chargers shot just 30.4 percent in the first half and led 15-14 at halftime. Led by point guard Alex Johnston who assisted 5 straight baskets in the third quarter, Aurora Central outscored the Tomcats 13-2 to take command.
"It was slow in the beginning but after the first timeout we realized we needed to play as a team. Everyone came together," said Harazin, giving credit to her guards.
"Alex (Johnston) is a really good ballhandler. She knows how to slow it down, she knows how to bring it up. When she has three people on her she knows how to get out of it. She knows how to execute. She's just really good overall and we're glad to have her."
Aurora Central Catholic (9-6) will play Joliet for the consolation championship at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Chargers won despite missing two starters, Veronica LaVia out with a concussion and Sabrina Ganofsky sidelined by a bone bruise. Shakira DelToro scored all 8 of her points in the second half and Jessica Anger added 7 points to join Harazin in helping the Chargers dominate inside.
"Whenever you play a quick team there's always going to be a temptation to try to run with them, and that was not going to do us any good," Chargers coach Mark Fitzgerald said. "When we started to play our way, our style, we started to take control. We are blessed with post play and we have guards who are getting it to them now."
East Aurora (4-8) took an early 8-2 lead on 3-point baskets from Jeanette Villezcas and Alysha Wiggins. Anger hit a jumper in the final minute of the first half to give the Chargers the halftime lead.
Harazin's high-low feed to DelToro capped the Chargers' strong third quarter, giving them a 28-16 lead, then Paige Miller hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth for a 15-point spread. The Chargers were never threatened despite a couple late Tomcat 3s.
"Central has all the height," East Aurora coach Lee Clayborn said. "We're short. We have to learn to rotate better and make a few adjustments."
The Tomcats struggled all game from the field, shooting just 20.7 percent (11 of 53).
"We played good defense, we got out on their shooters, we stepped up on offense and found the mismatch down in the post and found ways to get it there," Johnston said. "We didn't rush things and we made good, efficient passes."