Published: January 06, 2009 08:09 am      

Irish take care of business quickly

Prince of Peace scores first 15

FULTON, Ill. — Scoring the first 15 points in a basketball game is a wonderful thing. A huge early lead can have its drawbacks, too, however. Monday, the Prince of Peace girls saw both sides of a huge lead as they beat Fulton 49-30 in a non-conference game.

“The first half, we came out hot and wanted to make them run and play our game,” said Prince of Peace junior Colleen Ryan, whose numbers exemplified the game in a nutshell for the Irish. She was 7-for-7 and scored 16 of her game-high 17 points in the first half before going 0-for-8 from the field after halftime. “We were trying to keep the same determination (after halftime). You don’t want to relax when you get a big lead.”

That was easier said than done, though. The Irish (6-2) jumped ahead 15-0 and led 37-11 at halftime before scoring only 12 points in the second half.

“Complacency set in, no doubt,” Prince of Peace coach David Nelson said. “I credit Fulton for fighting all night. We couldn’t find any rhythm in the second half.”

Nor could the Steamers before halftime.

“I don’t think we could have hit the broad side of a barn; it was so bad offensively,” Fulton coach Amanda Abbott said.

At times, the Irish probably could have hit that elusive needle in the haystack.

“They played exceptionally well; you can’t take that away from them,” Abbott said.

Their early run began when Brooke Craig (16 points) connected on a layup in transition with 6:48 remaining in the first half. Ari Aquilani added a 15-footer from the left baseline to make it 4-0 and Katie Isenhour scored on a drive for a 6-0 lead before Ryan scored on three of the next four possessions.

“We were just trying to stretch the defense and draw the defense out,” Ryan said. “My other teammates were hitting, too.”

Ryan started her run with a three-point play when she was fouled on a transition basket, then added a pair of 10-footers from each side of the court for a 13-0 lead. She then helped finish the 15-0 start with a steal and pass ahead to Craig for layup with 2:37 remaining in the quarter.

“We were getting to the spots where we were supposed to be, and when we do that, we can create some chaos on the floor,” Nelson said.

It was more of the same in the second quarter. The Irish scored the first four points to push their lead back to 13, 18-5, then put together runs of 6-0, 5-0 and 7-0 to build their advantage to 26 points at halftime.

Things did get better for Fulton (4-10) in the second half.

“We talked about how we could come out and shut down or come out and respond,” Abbott said of her halftime conversation with her players. “I was happy with the way we responded. We worked 10 times harder. If we had worked that hard all game, it would have been different.”

The Steamers whittled away at Prince of Peace’s lead, cutting it below 20 on a basket by Sabrina Rock (six points) with 43 seconds left in the third quarter and to 41-24 when Paige Sanquist connected from 17 feet on an inbounds pass as the quarter ended. Fulton then got within 15 when Kelsey Munck opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws.

That was as close as Fulton got, though.

Even though the big lead might have kept Prince of Peace from playing all night at the level he desired, Nelson did reap one advantage from it. He was able to use his entire bench and get some needed experience for a team that has been short-handed lately.

Score by quarters

Prince of Peace 15 22 4 8 — 49

Fulton 5 6 13 6 — 30

PRINCE OF PEACE (6-2) — Ari Aquilana 2-5 0-0 4, Brooke Craig 8-17 0-0 16, Colleen Ryan 7-15 3-4 17, Chrissy Kokjohn 0-2 2-2 2, Jill Crigger 1-4 0-2 2, Emily Gardner 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Isenhour 3-5 2-4 8, Kiana Johnson 3-5 2-4 8, Carie Kuehn 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Roth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 7-12 49.

FULTON (4-10) — Kayla Anglese 2-8 1-3 6, Erica Bielema 0-1 0-1 0, Rachel Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsey Renkes 1-7 1-2 3, Kim Rogis 0-1 0-0 0, Allison DeWeerdt 1-6 2-4 4, Kelsey Munck 1-6 2-2 4, Liz Sanquist 1-4 0-0 2, Paige Sanquist 1-4 0-1 2, Sabrina Rock 3-6 0-1 6, Kelly Holland 0-2 0-0 0, Jenn Smith 1-2 1-5 3. Totals 11-46 7-19 30.

3-point goals — Prince of Peace 0-5 (Isenhour 0-1, Craig 0-4); Fulton 1-3 (Anglese 1-3). Total fouls — Prince of Peace 18; Fulton 14. Fouled out — Renkes. Rebounds — Prince of Peace 38 (Craig 11, Ryan 6); Fulton 43 (Rock 7, Smith 6). Assists — Prince of Peace 11 (Isenhour 5, Craig 4); Fulton 5 (Rock 2). Steals — Prince of Peace 9 (Four with 2); Fulton 9 (Anglese 3). Blocked shots — Prince of Peace 3 (Three with 1); Fulton 2 (Rock 2). Turnovers — Prince of Peace 24; Fulton 26.

Junior varsity — Fulton 50, Prince of Peace 36.