Sophia Towne steps into the spotlight, leads Nazareth to victory over Bolingbrook

Nazareth was reeling.

The Roadrunners controlled Monday’s home game against Bolingbrook, but their offense stalled in the fourth as the Raiders surged, cutting a 20-point lead to seven with under three minutes left.

Nazareth was discombobulated and struggling to generate offense against Bolingbrook's full-court pressure. The Roadrunners were turning the ball over or forcing shots.

They needed someone to calm down the offense. Their usual closer, senior forward Stella Sakalas, was on the bench dealing with an ankle sprain suffered in the second quarter.

With 2:44 left in the fourth, Nazareth ran a sideline out-of-bounds play to get junior guard Sophia Towne and junior forward Olivia Austin on the right side. Their proven two-man game became the best option at this crucial point.

Towne flared toward the baseline and received a pass and immediately dribbled it out. She then passed to Austin, and after receiving a rub screen, Towne broke free for an open shot, which she buried to build the lead back up to 10. Then, on the ensuing possession, Towne stole the ball.

Towne was the story of Nazareth’s 52-39 win over Bolingbrook. She stepped up after Sakalas went down in the first half after drawing a foul. Sakalas had scored 13 points before she left the game.

Sakalas’ absence opened the door for Towne to shine.

“We all just realized we need to be more aggressive to the basket and score without her,” said Towne, who scored 16 points.

Towne only scored two points in the first quarter. She couldn’t get anything to fall. But now, without Sakalas, her team needed her to find her rhythm.

But finding her rhythm didn’t entail Towne chucking shots. Sakalas’ absence forced Towne to be aggressive in creating for herself and her teammates. If she were in attack mode, the offense would flow from the attention she drew.

“I never feel she gets her due,” coach Eddie Stritzel said. “I thought she was tremendous down the stretch.”

She was composed and confident. Towne assumed the lead role and became the center of the Roadrunners’ offensive attack against an aggressive Bolingbrook defense. She routinely broke their press to get Nazareth in its offense. It was impressive seeing her remain poised as Bolingbrook sought to bring a frenzied energy to the game.

She became the team’s primary creator and thrived on attacking downhill and finishing at the basket. She was also an adept playmaker, setting up senior guard Lyla Shelton for a three-pointer in the third quarter.

It was interesting to see Towne flip her mindset in real time after Sakals went down. After junior guard Macy Polito hit the two free throws in relief of Sakalas, Towne got going with a driving layup. In the third quarter, she made an impressive weak-side block, and as soon as one of her teammates corralled the rebound, Towne clapped for the ball.

She wanted the responsibility, and her play reflected that.

“When Stella's here, Sophia likes to defer,” Stritzel said. “She knew that with Stella being out, she needed to step up her game.”

Shelton also stepped up for Nazareth, scoring all eight of her points in the third quarter. She was impactful on both ends of the floor and did a good job of keeping Nazareth organized and getting into its sets. She and Towne combined to score all 15 points for Nazareth in the third quarter.

“I love playing against teams like that,” Shelton said. “They're a really good team, and they put a lot of pressure on us. We just need to slow ourselves down. We can't get sped up from them. And I think we did a great job of that.”

Without their best player, the Roadrunners picked up a gutsy win as they begin a stretch that includes games against Marist, Maine South and Homewood-Flossmoor. Nazareth routinely plays a tough schedule, so this isn’t anything abnormal.

“We thought [Monday's game] was gonna be a dogfight with Stella,” Stritzel said. “To hold our own without her, that spells really good for [us] down the road.”