Loyola guard Aubrey Galvan plays with a flair to her game. In the third quarter, Galvan whipped a behind-the-back pass to her teammate Grace Bronski. Bronski promptly found Morgan Bruno for a wide-open corner three.
Galvan plays with a unique flair that it’s not surprising she grew up watching former NBA player Jason Williams — a player known for his audacious passes and tight handle.
“It’s some some part confidence since I’ve been doing it since I was little,” Galvan said. “Once I started practicing and watching White Chocolate [Jason Williams].”
The Ramblers dominated their first game on the Chicago Elite Classic stage, beating St. Louis Vashon (2-2) 64-24. The Ramblers held Vashon scoreless in the second quarter and their suffocating defense held Vashon to 17.5% shooting.
Galvan — who finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists — has fit in seamlessly to a Loyola team returning 14 players from last year’s team. From the start of the game, Galvan was whipping one-handed passes with the accuracy and precision of a quarterback.
“She’s a special point guard,” Ramblers coach Jeremy Schoenecker said. “The one thing I love about her is that she’s super unselfish. The way she passes the basketball, I don’t even know if most guys can do.”
But Loyola (7-0) has more talent beyond its talented point guard. The Ramblers have senior guard Morgan Bruno, a dead-eye shooter who finished with 18 points and six three-pointers. Guard Paige Engels, a Cornell commit, finished with ten points and seven rebounds.
She is the head of a balanced Loyola offense predicated on ball movement and shooting. If you make a mistake against Loyola, they’ll make you pay for it. If you double, they’ll find the open man. If you help on a drive, a player cuts for a wide-open layup.
“We want everyone to make sure that they share the ball because they know when they give it up it’s an eventually come back to them at some point,” Schoenecker said.
Loyola started the game on a 7-0 run. Vashon didn’t score seven points until the third quarter.
Loyola (6-0) wanted to come out and show the talent on the roster.
“It was also a statement one for us,” Engels said. “We just came off a big win against Montini on Friday, so it was a quick turnaround into today. “We’re having a lot of fun and when we’re having fun, it makes the game easier.”
Engels, a Cornell commit, finished with ten points and seven rebounds. She’s one of the senior leaders for the Ramblers and a steady presence on the court.
“You’ll look at the end of the game and she has 15 points and it’s quiet, but it’s in the most efficient way,” Schoenecker said. “ She’s one of the most efficient players I’ve coached.”
Their familiarity with each other has helped the Ramblers start the season so strong. They welcomed three new players to this year’s team, but the roster’s core has played together for years. They’re a battle-tested group.
Even Galvan, a transfer from Deerfield, played with Engels for Full Package on the AAU circuit.
“At the beginning of the season we could just start at the foundation we already had last year, we didn’t have to build anything new,” Engels said.
The Ramblers hope the chemistry, cohesion and depth will pay dividends during the season: They had 28 bench points off the bench. The Chicago Elite Classic was the start of that journey.
“We always want to be invited to this event,” Schoenecker said. “We believe that we’re one of the best teams in the state.”
Kyle Williams is a staff reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.
