Girls Basketball: Rena Renallo leads St Edward surge

Updated: February 2, 2012 10:19PM

The girls high school basketball season is quickly coming to an end, and two teams that could make some noise in the postseason met Thursday in Elgin. St. Edward and Hinckley-Big Rock faced off in nonconference play, and on this night it was St. Edward that would get the win 44-33.

Thursday St. Edward (19-7) said goodbye to six seniors, but it was junior Rena Ranallo who provided the biggest spark for the Lady Wave. Ranallo scored 19 points off the bench and shot 86 percent from the field.

“I fed off the loud energy of the crowd,” said Ranallo. “I was happy to provide some offense off the bench, and help our team get a victory.”

St. Edward got off to a very slow start to the game thanks to a combination of the Lady Royal’s (20-6) defense and some nerves on senior night.

“We were way too excited at the start of the game and it showed in our play,” said senior Madeline Kerr. “Our defense helped us in getting the victory tonight.”

The key to the victory for the Lady Wave was their defensive effort in the third quarter. St. Edward allowed Hinckley-Big Rock to score only two points in the period.

“We started out the game a little out of sync, but our defense picked up in the second half,” said St. Edward coach Michelle Russell. “This was a definite team win and everyone contributed.”

Lady Royals’ coach Greg Burks was pleased with his team’s effort in defeat.

“I was encouraged by our effort tonight against a really good St. Edward team,” said Burks. “We put ourselves in too big a hole to overcome, but we kept fighting. If there is a tougher gym to play in I sure haven’t seen it.”

St. Edward was led by Ranallo which scored 19 points. Madeline Kerr added 11 points for the Lady Wave.

Hinckley-Big Rock was led by Katie Hollis who scored 19 points and added 12 rebounds.

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