Sofia Corral would be more than happy if wins like these start trending for the Aurora Central Catholic girls basketball team.
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“It’s amazing, and definitely an experience I want to have again,” Corral said. “Hopefully, we can do it for the next three years.”
Corral, a 5-foot-8 guard had just teamed up Friday night with fellow freshman Riley Cwinski to lead the Chargers to a 47-40 victory over upset-minded Sandwich in the Class 2A Somonauk Regional championship game.
It was rare air for ACC, winning only the third regional title in program history and first since the 2011-12 team went on to take fourth place in the state in 2A.
ACC (18-14) moves on to a 7:30 p.m. Tuesday matchup against top-seeded Winnebago in the Johnsburg Sectional semifinals.
Corral and Cwinski, a 5-8 forward, paced the third-seeded Chargers on offense like they have much of the season. After slow starts, they finished with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Defense, however, was the key to the team’s success and her production, according to Corral.
“I’m definitely a defensive player, first and foremost,” she said. “It kind of fuels my energy on offense. I can always count on defense.
“Defense is an effort thing and I love sprints — love putting in the hard work.”
Corral and Cwinski each had five rebounds, while Corral added four steals in the second half.
Sandwich’s box-and-one defense with Molly Roberts attempted to deny Corral the ball from the start, gumming up the offense for the Chargers early in the game.
Corral had just one basket in the first half. Cwinski was limited to four points, all on free throws.
“It hasn’t happened much this year, but I have faced it in travel ball,” Corral said of the gimmick defense. “We talked about it beforehand and expected it.
“You just have to keep moving against it.”
Ninth-seeded Sandwich (9-23) took a 6-5 lead after the first quarter, but ACC called upon its 1-2-2 zone press to turn the tide.
“I think it kind of settled us down, even more when we got some easy baskets off turnovers,” ACC coach LeVada Smith said.
The Chargers forced eight turnovers in the second quarter and opened with a 12-0 spurt to lead 17-8 at halftime.
“It’s communication and just keep moving,” Corral said of the key to making the press effective. “We’ve worked on it a lot in practice and it paid off in the end. It’s a team effort.”
Sandwich didn’t go down without a fight, however.
The Indians were led by Claire Allen, who had 14 points, and Roberts, who added 10. They made four 3-pointers in the third quarter and pulled within 34-29 entering the fourth.
“They came back, they battled,” Sandwich coach Randy Malloy said of his team, which struggled this season in the Interstate Eight Conference. “We were out of the conference race by Christmas, so our focus has been on the postseason.
“The girls refocused and kept working because they wanted to be here.”
Sandwich won a play-in game and then upset second-seeded St. Edward to reach Friday’s final.
Still, ACC never lost the lead in the fourth quarter, which featured three baskets from Corral. The Chargers’ struggles at the free-throw line kept it close.
ACC shot just 5 of 16 from the line in the fourth quarter.
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“I think the only time I got nervous was the last two or three minutes,” said Smith, whose Chargers finished 13 of 29 at the line and also went 12 of 29 in the semifinals. “It’s weird.
“The first half of the season, we were excellent. But since then, it’s been up and down for us.”