Aquin starts out hot, blows out Seton Academy at girls hoops supersectional

DEKALB | The Seton Academy girls basketball team probably couldn't have imagined a more nightmarish start to their Class 1A DeKalb Supersectional game against Freeport Aquin.

The Bulldogs came out on fire, quickly putting the Sting in a hole which they couldn't dig out of as Aquin rolled to a 61-35 victory Monday.

"They came out and they hit almost everything they shot," Seton Academy coach Kevin Green said.

Before the Sting could settled into the game, they were staring at a double-digit deficit as the Bulldogs connected on three 3-pointers less than three minutes in to jump out to a quick 13-0 lead.

"It was actually kind of surprising, because it was one of our better starts the entire year and it felt very good," Aquin senior Aubrey Chang said.

Seton was able to briefly climb back into the game behind as a 7-0 run that pulled the Sting within six points after Green switched the defense from a zone to man-to-man.

The short spurt didn't phase Aquin, and coach Jeff Curry said he knew his team would have to adjust defensively to regain control.

"They kept coming at us and we knew that they were gonna keep firing 3s, so we knew we'd have to step out on them," Curry said.

Aquin adjusted to use a 12-2 run to carry a 14-point advantage into halftime.

Bulldogs junior star Sophie Brunner, scored five points in the first half, and did her damage in the second half as her team put the game well out of reach. After 17 second-half points, she finished with a game-high 22 to go along with 14 rebounds.

"She's one of the toughest players we've played this year," Green said. "She has the size and mobility to be a problem for a lot of teams."

Tiffany Ellis led the Sting with eight points and Ebony Bailey and Brittany Mitchell added seven points each.

Aquin will play Leroy at 12:15 p.m. Friday in one state semifinal at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University.

Leroy knocked off Annawan, the No. 1-ranked Class 1A team in the state, in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional on Monday night.