Extra Points: JCA's Owusu Saves Her Best for Last

Joliet Catholic senior Vanessa Owusu was a little more worked up than usual right before the start of Wednesday’s East Suburban Catholic Conference girls basketball game against St. Viator.

It was Senior Night and Owusu was about to play her last regular-season home game for the Angels.

“During warm-ups, I was out of breath because I was so excited,” Owusu said. “It was a great feeling being out there. It’s also really sad. I’ve been playing in this gym the last four years and I’m really going to miss my friends and (Joliet Catholic) coach Ed (Schodrof). It’s been a lot of fun at JCA, and I wouldn’t have chosen any other school to play for.”

The 5-foot-10 center saved one of her best performances for Wednesday.

She had 13 points and 10 rebounds to help Joliet Catholic close the regular season with a 54-42 victory.

“I just started believing in myself,” Owusu said. “It’s more excitement and joy (than emotional). The whole team basically played for me, (and fellow seniors) Meghan Novak, Alyssa Fehrenbacher (and Meredith Vertin). It was amazing.”

Owusu, Novak and Fehrenbacher were honored before the start of the game and were given flowers by their teammates. Vertin was not at the game because of a death in her family.

Novak added 14 points and two steals in the victory, while Fehrenbacher contributed three points and a rebound.

Schodrof called timeout with 29 seconds remaining in the game and walked his three seniors out to midcourt to get saluted by the home fans.

“I’m kind of emotional to be honest,” Schodrof said. “I’m very happy the seniors went out on top. They have meant a whole lot (to the program). I’ll be sad to see them walk away.”

Bright Future: While Joliet Catholic was honoring its seniors Wednesday, freshman Naomi Mayes turned in an impressive second-half performance.

The 5-foot-4 starting guard scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the final two quarters. She added four rebounds and four steals in the victory.

“She played well,” Schodrof said. “She has her freshman days and her upperclassman days. This was one of the good games.”

Playoff Time:  Joliet Catholic got off to a 7-2 start this season, but went 6-10 down the stretch. That’s nothing to be ashamed about considering the Angels play in the always difficult East Suburban Catholic Conference.

Joliet Catholic is seeded No. 3 in the Class 3A Morris Regional and will face No. 6 Kankakee in a regional quarterfinal game Monday.

“It’s been up and down, but hopefully we’re peaking at the right time going into the regional,” Schodrof said. “We play as tough a schedule as anybody. I don’t think anybody wants our schedule. If we play like (this), we’ll be OK.”

Sophomore Score: Joliet Catholic 38, St. Viator 29. The Angels were led by Sarah Adler (11 points), Hayley Salata (9 points), Claire O’Connor (7 points) and Miranda Morales (6 points).

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