Aurora Central Catholic girls basketball takes physical battle over Rosary of Edgelawn

AURORA – Bragging rights prosper for a far greater time than either team’s commute when it comes to the Aurora Central Catholic-Rosary girls basketball rivalry.

Although the Chargers and Royals no longer share a conference, the banter between the schools doesn’t graduate, unlike a handful of program alums who helped comprise Monday’s crowd.

Visiting ACC beat Rosary, 57-43, largely behind its ability to produce longer stretches of more fluid play. Fouls and missed shots were aplenty, but the Chargers (8-1) proved to be in more frequent possession of consistency.

“We had more horses tonight,” Chargers coach Mark Fitzgerald said.

Playing for the first time in 10 days, Rosary (2-6) lost its sixth straight game as it struggled to find a rhythm. The Royals have not won since starting the season 2-0 in their year-opening tournament.

Last week’s scheduled visit to Nazareth Academy was postponed because of a formidable flu bug that spread at Nazareth.

In any event, both the Royals and Chargers enjoyed plenty of free-throw practice, combining for 74 attempts from the line. Senior guard Kalie Soris led ACC with 14 points, while sophomore post Taylor Harazin added 13.

Rosary senior guard Quincy Kellett led all scorers with 17 points, but even she was susceptible to dry spells. The Royals didn’t register their first second-half points until Megan Conlin converted a three-point play at the 4:41 mark. The Royals still trailed, 38-23.

Rosary had just two field goals until the 5:18 mark of the second quarter, when Kellett sparked the Royals with a personal 5-0 run. Her 3-pointer with 4:33 to play before halftime brought Rosary to within 14-11, but was soon followed by an all-too-familiar sequence at the other end.

Chargers guards found the 6-foot-3 Harazin in the post for a layup that produced a three-point play after a foul and free throw.

ACC entered the bonus with 1:55 left in the first quarter and shot 12 for 21 from the line in the first half, attacking the hoop aggressively and putting many of the Royals’ regulars in foul trouble.

Before long, however, the Chargers experienced a similar affliction, as personified by one sequence in the final minute of the first half. Soris banked in a running one-hander to provide a 26-19 lead, a play that started when freshman post Sabrina Ganofsky, a Batavia resident, swung her hands in the passing lane on an inbounds play.

Hustling back to defend moments later, Soris was whistled for her third foul. ACC led, 26-20, at the break, but both sides faced strategic shortcomings because of foul trouble.

Rosary athletic director/public address announcer Mary Lou Kunold invited any of either school’s alumni to stand up for recognition before tipoff. A few years from now, she might get a better response when prompting participants of this game to rise to their feet.

The lone meeting between the Edgelawn Drive neighbors this season – recent conference realignment split the traditional rivals – included plenty of meaningful minutes from reserves. One of them, Ganofsky, had eight points in her season debut. She suffered a concussion during fall league play.

“This is her first game as a varsity Charger,” Fitzgerald said. “She stepped up big.”

And helped ensure bragging rights. They’ll last a little longer this time around.