A little time off was all Allia von Schlegell and her Nazareth teammates needed to get back on track.
Right before their Christmas break, the Roadrunners lost 66-49 to Benet on Dec. 14, snapping a six-game winning streak.
The Sandburg Holiday Classic was the perfect opportunity to hit the reset button.
“We had a nice break before this,” von Schlegell said. “We came off a loss to Benet and regrouped. I think our heads were right and our minds were right.”
Nazareth went 4-0 in the tournament and outscored its opponents by 93 points, wrapping it up with a 74-51 win over the host Eagles in the title game on Dec. 28.
Coach Eddie Stritzel’s team is as talented as it’s ever been. But the Roadrunners’ ability to spread the floor and look for the open teammate has been key to their early success.
“We have a lot of shooters so it is hard to guard us and they are very unselfish,” Stritzel said.
Stella Sakalas’ ability to play down low or around the arc is key. She led the offense early against Sandburg, scoring 14 of her game-high 31 points.
“Being able to play different positions and spots helps everyone else to be able to move the ball and be open,” Sakalas said.
In the second quarter, von Schlegell scored 12 of her 17 points. She averaged 16.8 points in the tournament en route to earning MVP honors.
“You can’t make mistakes against Nazareth,” Sandburg coach Nick Fotopoulos said. “We weren’t going to give up. We battled and that is what this team is going to do.”
The Eagles outscored the Roadrunners 23-13 in the third quarter to pull within 12.
Ellie Driscoll led the Eagles with 18 points, Zoe Trunk scored 15 and Olivia Trunk finished with seven.
Zoe Trunk averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3.8 steals to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
“We recovered late in the third and in the fourth we got back to controlling the tempo,” Stritzel said. “It’s all about controlling the tempo.”
“We really know each other and how we play and our playing styles. I think that helps us when we have deficits like that,” von Schlegell said.” We are just able to bounce back easily.”
Also earning all-tourney honors for the Roadrunners was Sophia Towne, who averaged 14.3 points and played solid defense.
“This team doesn’t have the experience as last year’s team but we have more God-given talent than before,” Stritzel said, referring to the 2024 Class 4A runner-up squad. “And if we can live up to our talent and keep working, we are really dangerous come February and March.”
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