St. Laurence’s Reaghan Galvin was completely honest.
The senior forward said when the Vikings opened the season with a 2-12 record — both victories coming against De La Salle — she didn’t think winning a regional title would be in the cards.
“I didn’t think so,” Galvin said. “We lost some players to injuries. We were hit by sickness. But we made some big strides.”
Galvin found her stride in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, scoring nine points as St. Laurence beat — yes — the host Meteors 48-30 in a Class 3A De La Salle Regional semifinal in Chicago.
Along with six rebounds and two seals, Galvin finished with 12 points for the Vikings (14-18), who are aiming for a third regional title in program history. Freshman forward Marlee-Michelle Coleman added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Elle Rice scored nine points.
Jakiah Jackson led De La Salle (10-19) with 10 points.
St. Laurence has have won five straight games with a roster that includes five juniors, four freshmen and a sophomore. And Galvin’s senior leadership has been invaluable.
“She’s the heart of our team,” St. Laurence coach Claire Austin said of Galvin. “We say it every day — we go as Reaghan goes. When Reaghan is rebounding, we’re all going to be rebounding. If Reaghan has a good game, we’re all going to have a good game.
“She has meant everything to her teammates and to the coaching staff as well. She’s someone we can go to. The kid is just the heart of the team and can do anything we ask her to do.”
Rice, for one, is thankful to have Galvin as a teammate.
“She knows all of the plays and all of the positions,” Rice said. “She tells us where to go if we’re not in the right spots and she runs the offense vocally.”
Galvin will get another chance to do that again as fifth-seeded St. Laurence plays fourth-seeded Kennedy (23-6) at 6 p.m. Thursday in the regional final.
Despite the sparkling record of the Crusaders, who beat Bulls Prep 30-24 in the other semifinal, strength of schedule could come into play. It’s not a stretch to think the Vikings could pull it off.
“A regional title would mean everything to us,” Galvin said. “I think it would be a good testament to us to show that, with all of the things thrown at us, we can still come out on top.”
This winter started out on a rough note for St. Laurence as junior guard Sara Burzycki and sophomore guard Aaliyah Flores were lost to injuries before the season even began.
The Vikings knew Burzycki was out for the season but held out hope Flores, the team’s MVP as a freshman, would eventually be able to play. That hasn’t happened.
“We had the two injuries, we had a concussion, and every single kid on the team get sick,” Austin said. “Everything you can have in a season has happened.
“The way we are playing now is good, especially with the young kids we have. We have trials and tribulations, but we are playing our best basketball now.”
Galvin, meanwhile, wants to keep the season going for as long as she can.
She will give up competitive basketball next winter to concentrate on academics. She hopes to attend college at Marquette and study either nursing or business marketing.
She started with the sport because of sisters Rylie and Jasmin. Rylie played at St. Laurence, and when Reaghan was a freshman and Rylie a senior, they shared the court a couple times.
“We were all pretty competitive,” Reaghan said of her sisters. “I base my game off Rylie’s game because we are closer in age. It was fun to get to play with her during her senior year.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
