IC Catholic Prep at Aurora Central Catholic girls basketball

AURORA – Aurora Central Catholic’s 20th win of the season clinched the Girls Catholic Athletic White Division Conference championship Wednesday night.

Executing a full-court press, the Chargers forced over 30 IC Catholic Prep turnovers, many resulting in ACC baskets, for a 69-38 home court win.

The trapping press is a recent addition to the Chargers’ playbook.

“We implemented that press two weeks ago. We were watching a tape of a game against St. Charles North. We saw how they pressed,” ACC coach LeVada Smith said. “I asked my girls if they could run something like that and they said, ‘Oh yeah’ so we implemented it and it’s been working pretty well so far.”

Another last-minute adjustment, inserting Sofia Orozco into the starting lineup, also paid off. The 5-foot-11 sophomore scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds.

“She stepped in because one of our starters, Grace Grunloh, tweaked an ankle,” Smith said. “Sofia stepped into that role and played pretty well.”

While Orozco and senior teammate Riley Cwinski (14 points) worked the ball inside for layups and short jumpers and Sofia Corral and Brooklyn Murphy scored from beyond the arc. Corral’s game-high 17 points included three 3-pointers. Murphy (11 points) also sank three 3-pointers. Reserve Ella Oester canned two from beyond the arc.

The Chargers are 20-2 overall and 6-0 in conference.

“It’s a result of all of the hard work we’ve done in practice and also the conditioning we have been doing,” Corral said. “We’ve built team chemistry, and everyone wants to work hard and is willing to work hard.”

ACC’s offense started early, going on a 17-2 run in the first quarter for a 24-7 lead with two minutes left in the period. The Knights scored the last three baskets of the frame to trail 24-13 at the end of the first eight minutes.

ACC continued to dominate in the second quarter and held a 49-24 lead at halftime.

An energized IC Catholic Prep (12-7, 4-1) took the court to start the second half. With an uptick in intensity and a switch to a zone defense, the Knights slowed down ACC, holding the Chargers to 15 points. But it was not enough to get back in the game as the Knights tallied only nine points.

The Chargers started the fourth quarter leading 64-33.

“I give our kids credit, they fought to the end,” IC Catholic Prep coach Todd Fisher said. “But when ACC is hot from the outside, move the ball like they did and play that full-court press, they are tough to beat.”

Senior Maura Grogan led the Knights in scoring with 10 points.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250122/boys-basketball/girls-basketball-aurora-central-catholic-clinches-conference-crown-wins-20th-game/