St. Francis withstands Rosary comeback
St. Francis sophomore Katie Anne De Craene was feeling pretty good after scoring 7 straight points in the first quarter Thursday night against Rosary.
But that wasn't the high point for the varsity rookie.
That came when De Craene went to the free-throw line to shoot a 1-and-1 with one second remaining.
"It was the best part," De Craene said. "Me at that line with nobody around me, it was like, 'Oh, we got this in the bag.'"
Indeed, De Craene made the first free throw to cap the scoring in the Spartans' 38-33 Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division victory. It also put the finishing touch on the De Craene's finest performance yet. She finished with a personal-best and game-high 13 points.
"It was so much fun," De Craene said. "I had a lot more confidence.
"All my teammates have been cheering me on a lot and we've been all giving each other some support."
De Craene sank three consecutive shots, including the first of her two 3-pointers, to cap an opening 9-0 run by the Spartans (5-4, 3-2), who jumped out to a 28-14 halftime lead.
"I'm very pleased with the team," St. Francis coach Sandy De Craene said. "We came out hard, we came out focused, and a lot of times we don't do that.
"We consistently played together and that's what we've been hoping for a long time."
The Spartans looked to be rolling to victory, but they made only 3 baskets in the second half as Rosary (4-3, 1-2) stiffened defensively.
Neither team made a turnover in the third quarter and the Spartans had only 2 through three quarters and took a 33-22 lead into the fourth period. But the Royals forced turnovers on the first three possessions of the fourth quarter and twice cut the deficit to 5 before Kate Chaparro restored order from St. Francis by draining a 19-foot jumper with 2:15 remaining.
"It's a tale of two different halves," Rosary coach John Rutter said. "The first half we didn't play any defense and all credit to them. They executed and made shots and we struggled.
"I was proud of our efforts in the second half. We finally competed."
Zoe Ketterman had 9 points and 7 rebounds and Lauren Hawkins added 7 points, including a baseline jumper that pulled the Royals within 37-33 with 10.6 seconds left.
"We had control of the ball a lot and we felt the pressure a little bit," Katie Anne De Craene said. "But we got calmed down and we trusted each other at the end."
Chaparro finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals for the Spartans, while Maggie Culver chipped in 9 points and 8 rebounds.