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Esp, Marmion sink Montini

Jake Esp swished a 3-pointer from the left wing 31 seconds into Friday's game against Montini, and the Marmion senior immediately knew he was in a zone.

In the process of shooting visiting Montini out of its own 1-2-2 zone defense, as Broncos coach Brian Opoka said, the 6-foot-4 Esp scored a personal-high 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting with four 3-pointers in a 56-36 Cadets win in Aurora.

"I felt hot as soon as I took the first shot," said Esp, whose prior high of 26 came last December against Schurz. "I knew it was going to be a good day. I usually shoot well on our rims, I like them. And I was just feeling hot the first half."

In both teams' first game on a four-team Suburban Christian Conference schedule that includes St. Francis and Aurora Christian, Esp scored 18 first-half points and made 4 of 7 three-point shots to help Marmion (3-3, 1-0) post a 33-25 lead.

For the game Esp also grabbed 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

"He found ways to get open and we couldn't find a guy to guard him," Opoka said. "We don't go very deep in our own bench, so we're hoping that our zone early on keeps our legs fresh and hopefully gets us a couple stops early."

Montini (0-6, 0-1) battled from a 12-5 deficit to get within 18-16 after one quarter, but the Broncos were unable to capitalize after getting Marmion into foul trouble. Montini made 6 of 11 first-quarter free throws and didn't improve, 5 of 15 in the second quarter.

"You miss 15 free throws, you're down by 9 at halftime, right there that's a huge key. Free throws and just finishing, but we were getting good looks, that's one thing," said Montini senior forward Mike Mooney, who led the Broncos with 12 points. Kevin Brachmann scored 8 points with 8 rebounds.

Esp operated more inside the arc in the second half, and his 3 third-quarter baskets had the Cadets up 42-27 at 3:48 of the third. The greater separation was Marmion's 10-2 rebounding margin in the quarter, and 35-23 for the game. Matt Fletcher grabbed a team-high 7 boards for the Cadets.

Mooney did make a pair of free throws to get Montini within 47-36 with 5:46 left in the game, but the Broncos didn't score again and Marmion coach Joe Currie got all 14 Cadets in the game.

"We were fortunate that they missed 15 (free throws) that first half," Currie said. "Otherwise it could have been a little bit different story at halftime. Yeah, we dodged a bullet there."

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