Sports

Girls Basketball: Rich Central Wins Andrew Turkey Tourney

Rich Central 49, Andrew 43: Chaz Duson scored 14 points, and the Olympians were able to stave off a late rally by the T-Bolts to take Saturday's Turkey Tourney title game.

The Skinny: Rich Central's impressive full-court press led to a 49-43 girls basketball victory over Andrew on Saturday afternoon in the title game of the T-Bolts' Turkey Turney. No matter how he tried, Andrew coach Bob Matz was unable to come up with adjustments to help the T-Bolts, though the staged a late rally. Rich Central had a 10-point lead at the half and held it into the third quarer. The Olympians were up by as much as 14 before the T-Bolts got some momentum back, using a 15-9 fourth-quarter surge to make things interesting.

Patch MVP: Rich Central's Chaz Duson led all scorers with 14 points. She also had two rebounds and three steals.

Key Stats: Though Rich Central forced 21 Andrew turnovers, the Olympians' foul trouble sent Andrew to the line frequently. The T-Bolts made 19-of-29 free throws compared to just 9-of-27 shots. The Olympians made 17-of-33 shots and 7-of-10 from the three throw line.

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Rich Central Leaders: Aside from Duson's 14 points, two rebounds, and three steals, Alex Stanford had 12 points, one rebound and three steals. Jessica Warren had six points and six rebounds off the bench.

Andrew Leaders: Nicole Botich had 12 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Tiana Karopulos had 11 points, including seven free throws, three rebounds and a steal. Catherine Foley added 10 points and two rebounds.

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Quotable I: Rich Central coach Bryan Craig on his team's play: "I expected better today, but I have high expectations for this team. We won and that's all that matters.

Quotable II: Andrew coach Bob Matz on his team's valiant effort: "Rich Central is really talented at basketball. They are gifted athletes, and they posed a lot of problems for us. For the way we handled it tonight, we knew there would be turnovers. I told the girls to put the turnovers behind them because we were going to make them. I like to see that we learned from our mistakes and never stopped."

Team Records: Rich Central is 4-0. Andrew is 2-1.

What's Next: Rich Central will participate in the Marist tournament, beginning Monday with a matchup against Thornton Fractional North. Andrew has two weeks off before facing Sandburg.


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