AURORA — Eight freshmen typically means more than a rebuilding season. It means disaster.
Unless one of them is among the top-five players in the nation for her age group. Unless each is already far more technically advanced than many upperclassmen.
Not to say the Regis Jesuit girls aren’t undergoing growing pains, but the freshmen-laden roster isn’t all that bad. The No. 8 Raiders provided more evidence Friday night with a 57-49 win against No. 5 Pine Creek in the Regis Holiday Hoop Classic semifinals.
“There have been rough patches, but our freshmen are really good,” said junior guard Marquelle Dent, who scored 19 points and was one of only three non-freshmen available to coach Carl Mattei.
The best of the bunch is 6-foot center Diani Akigbogun, who produced 20 points and 10 rebounds and helped the Raiders (7-4) seal it in the final moments. Pine Creek (10-2) was within one point midway through the fourth and trailed only 51-48 with less than two minutes to play.
“We had to boost ourselves up and attack them more aggressively,” Akinbogun said.
Regis Jesuit will take on Air Academy, a winner Friday against ThunderRidge, in tonight’s tourney final (7 p.m.). The Raiders’ contingent of freshmen was necessitated by a season-ending knee injury to highly recruited junior post Katie Heckman and injury to 6-1 sophomore Maddie Montgomery.
“You’re almost being a psychologist with eight freshmen, trying to convince them their time is now,” Mattei said. “It’s a roller coaster, because if they miss a shot, they internalize it for four possessions.”
Pine Creek got 11 points apiece from Shannon Kelly and Brandi Farley, but couldn’t overcome 15-for-58 shooting.
“That’s unacceptable shooting percentage and that’s what lost us the game,” Eagles coach Kelley Stewart said. “It feels good to compete, but if we finish, that’s a win for us.”
Pine Creek, a newcomer to the upper reaches of the Class 5A circuit, will get another test against a traditional power today in the third-place game against ThunderRidge.
“We can learn because we’ve never played teams like this before,” Kelly said.
Pine Creek 14 14 10 11 — 49
Regis Jesuit 22 9 12 14 — 57
Pine Creek — Kelly 4 2-2 11, Farley 4 3-5 11, Howerton 1 3-4 5, McCarthy 4 1-5 9, Detter 1 0-0 2, Murphy 0 6-6 6, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Romero 1 2-2 5. Totals 15 17-24 49.
Regis Jesuit — Hall 2 0-0 4, Revels 2 2-6 6, Rooney 2 0-0 4, Akigbogun 7 6-7 20, Dent 6 7-8 19, Neubert 0 2-2 2, Molyneaux 0 0-0 0, Cox 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 17-24 57.
3-point goals — Kelly, Romero. Fouled out — none. Tecnical fouls — none. Total fouls — Pine Creek 17, Regis Jesuit 17.
