Rosary shuts down Aurora Central Catholic
Nothing comes easy when neighboring schools Rosary and Aurora Central Catholic get together, and that certainly was true again Monday night in the nonconference matchup.
There were plenty of fouls on both ends, bodies diving all over the court for loose balls, and made shots were at a premium. The teams ended up shooting a combined 54 free throws, making 27.
Rosary couldn't get anything to drop early, falling behind 10-1 to start the game. The Royals kept chipping away, got Aurora Central Catholic's twin post players in foul trouble, and held the Chargers to 12 second-half points for a 49-43 win on the Chargers' home court.
Rosary (10-13) came into the game at a height disadvantage but when 6-foot-3 Sabrina Ganofsky and 6-3 Taylor Harazin both fouled out in the fourth quarter, the Royals had the Chargers right where they wanted.
"We wanted her (Harazin) to sit," Rosary coach Don Rasich said. "We finished. You saw us early in the year. We didn't finish."
Aurora Central Catholic (13-9) grabbed the early lead on back-to-back 3s from Paige Miller. The Royals defended her better the rest of the game and didn't allow the sharpshooter any open looks.
Alex Johnston gave the Chargers their biggest lead of the night 29-19 late in the second quarter on a 4-point play, one of four times in the game the teams fouled a 3-point shooter.
Johnston scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half. The Chargers led 31-25 at halftime after Rosary's Jenna Hernandez nailed a late 3.
"Forty-four (Johnston) played a heck of a basketball game," Rasich said. "At halftime as a team we decided to shut her down. Do everything we could to frustrate her, make hard shots for her, make life difficult for her."
The Royals did a better job on Johnston - and all the Chargers - in the second half, forcing 15 turnovers and holding them to 4-of-20 shooting.
It helped not to have to deal with Ganofsky and Harazin. Ganofsky, who tied Johnston with a game-high 14 points plus 9 rebounds, fouled out with 5:06 left going over the back trying to rebound her own missed free throw. Harazin was on the bench with her fifth foul less than a minute later when she fouled Caitlyn Unruh shooting a 3.
"It's a continual problem for us. We have a problem with our bigs getting in foul trouble," said Chargers coach Mark Fitzgerald, whose team is missing starters Veronica LaVia and Shakira DelToro.
"They out-hustled us, they executed better at key moments. Frustrating, yes."
Hernandez, who led Rosary with 13 points, provided much of that frustration with her outside shooting. Trailing 35-27 in the third quarter, Taylor Drozdowski made 2 free throws, then Hernandez sank back-to-back 3s to tie the game at 35.
Rosary continued on a 12-0 run taking the lead for good 39-35 on Sophia Kramer's steal and off-balanced left-handed layup on the other end, then a 17-foot jumper from Kramer.
"I just knew I needed to come out in the second half and put some shots up for us," said Hernandez, whose coach has been encouraging her to shoot more. "I just knew I needed to keep my head up. I would play in this game every day if I could."
The Chargers never trailed in the fourth quarter. They led 44-42 with 4 minutes to go when Harazin fouled out. Lauren Smith's basket made it a 4-point game.
Smith, returning from a concussion, had 11 points and 9 rebounds.
"We made some shots," Rasich said. "When you make shots life is a lot easier. And we played tough defense."