Brooklyn Murphy saw her first season for Aurora Central Catholic slowed early on by an illness.
The junior guard had a simple solution to make up for that lost time, however.
The St. Charles East transfer decided to practically live in the gym with her father, Mike, getting up as many shots as she could to get to spur on the start of her career with the Chargers.
“I’m always in the gym,” Murphy said. “I worked my way up here. I’m always shooting. I’m always with my dad in the gym. I give him a lot of thanks for taking the time to be with me.”
Those practice shots paid off Tuesday night. Murphy scored a game-high 18 points, all coming on 3-pointers, as ACC eased past Marengo 78-51 in a Class 2A Genoa-Kingston Regional semifinal.
Coming off the bench, Murphy shot 6 of 9 from 3-point range for the Chargers (23-9). Riley Cwinski added 17 points, followed by 14 points from Anna-Marie Godina and 10 from Sofia Corral.
Fourth-seeded ACC, which made 14 3-pointers as a team, plays at 7 p.m. Friday for the regional title against top-seeded Stillman Valley (28-4), a 52-43 winner over Johnsburg.
Murphy said her confidence has been lacking at times, but there were no signs of that Tuesday.
“Just having confidence in myself, I’ve struggled with that,” Murphy said. “At this point, you just have to be confident.”
ACC coach LeVada Smith makes it really easy on Murphy in that regard.
“We constantly tell her, when you’re in the game, you’re in there to shoot threes,” Smith said. “I shouldn’t have to tell you. Shoot threes.”
Murphy was happy to oblige Tuesday. She hit her first 3-pointer in the first quarter as ACC opened up a 19-9 lead. She hit two more in the second as the lead swelled to 46-22 at halftime.
By the time she hit her sixth and final three during the third quarter, Murphy brought on a running clock, giving the Chargers a 70-39 lead.
“It was a really fun game to play because everybody was getting involved,” Murphy said. “It was so much fun. It’s a really good environment here at ACC, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.”
Murphy also had some help on the outside. Godina hit four 3-pointers and sophomore guard Grace Grunloh added a pair. The Chargers shot 14 of 28 from 3-point range.
“When you shoot like that, that was something else,” Smith said. “If you start hitting those shots, it just opens up the lane because now they have to come out closer to you. Then you get it to Riley or Corral and they can get to the basket.
“It just opens it up. It’s a beautiful thing.”
With the floor spaced, Corral and Cwinski did their thing from inside, scoring a combined 27 points in the first three quarters on 2-pointers and free throws.
“They have to choose who the bigger threat is, and honestly, they can’t do it,” Cwinski said. “We’re all too big of threats. If you leave the lane open, we’re getting the layup.
“If Brooklyn is open, I’m kicking it to her.”
After the early setbacks, Murphy has established herself in ACC’s rotation.
“It was pretty rough in the beginning,” Murphy said. “I came down with pneumonia. That was really upsetting for me because I was ready to start a new season at a new school.”
Once she got back, though, she ingratiated herself to her new team.
“She came in, and right away, all the girls really enjoyed her,” Cwinski said. “She always works hard. If the gym is open, she’ll be in there. She’s been working super hard.
“She’s earned her spot on this team.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
