Stay Connected with YourSeason
Girls Basketball: Aurora Central flies by Raby
Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: February 21, 2012 6:36AM
Aurora Central was not going to be denied.
The Chargers jumped out to an early 12-2 lead and rolled to a 58-29 victory over fellow Cinderella team Raby Monday night at the Class 2A Concordia University Supersectional.
The win advanced ACC to Friday’s state semifinals, where they will play Quincy Notre Dame or St. Thomas More at 6:30 p.m. at Redbird Arena in Normal.
The Chargers (25-6) are assured of taking home the first state trophy in a girls sport in school history.
“It means a lot,” ACC senior guard Jackie Cardona said. “We’ve never gone this far and it’s just crazy. I can’t believe we’re going this far.”
Cardona, a four-year varsity performer, scored on a baseline drive to open the scoring and finished with 12 points and three assists. She needs 40 points to break the school’s career scoring record of 1,238.
Tesa Alderman tallied six points and Cardona had four points during the opening run for the Chargers, who made six of their first eight shots.
“We knew that we had to come out fast right away,” ACC forward Ashley Wilk said. “We played two teams that were pretty similar the past two games so we knew how to play them. So we came out and played fast.”
Wilk, a 5-10 senior, blunted every attempt at a comeback by Raby (18-9), coming up with 14 points and 14 rebounds evenly divided between each half.
Raby, which made only 9 of 45 shots, cut the gap to 17-12 on a steal and basket by Zhane Alexander early in the second quarter, but Katilyn Rosa (eight points, 13 rebounds) split a pair of free throws and Wilk converted a three-point play off a steal by Alderman.
Wilk’s inside basket gave the Chargers a 26-12halftime lead and then junior Alex DeCraene tallied seven of her 11 points in the third quarter to keep the advantage in double figures. ACC then outscored the Raiders 22-8 in the final quarter.
“They were a great team,” Raby coach Fred Eaton said. “Can’t take a thing from them.
“My kids came out stagnated. It was a case of nervousness. Down here, the first team that gets over the nervousness wins.”
Adrianna Eaton tallied nine points to lead Raby, which had never won a regional before this year. Daranesha Smith and Ashley Dorsey added five points for the Raiders.
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment