ACC edges Marmion
Aurora Central outplayed Marmion for no more than two or three minutes in Saturday's third place game of the Waubonsie Valley Holiday Classic.
The Chargers (13-1) never got into any sort of rhythm or flow on offense, and trailed most of the way, but still managed to pull out a 47-44 win in the closing minutes of a contest that had all the drama and intensity one would expect from a trophy game between two rivals.
"We played awful tonight, and I don't know how we won, but the kids just didn't want to lose," Aurora Central coach Nathan Drye said. "We wanted to jump on them. Once Marmion got some momentum going they were able to be patient."
The trouble started early for the Chargers when Nick Czaja picked up a quick pair of fouls.
"I've been in foul trouble before, but never that quickly," Czaja said. "We had to go away from our high-low game."
Tyler Smith sank a pair from beyond the arc and the Cadets built a 13-7 lead after one quarter.
When Czaja was whistled for his third foul early in the second quarter, senior Mark Adams took it upon himself to keep his team in the game.
"When you see your team struggling to put points on the board, and then your big guy goes out of the game, someone has to step up because you're not going to get any easy buckets down low," Adams said.
Adams scored 9 points in the second quarter, but Marmion's Bryce Emory kept pace with 7 of his own and the Cadets extended their lead to 25-18 at the break.
"I don't believe in moral victories, but this was a tremendous game, and it should go a long way to building our players' self-confidence," Marmion coach Rashon Burno said.
The two teams waded through a sluggish third quarter, setting the stage for Aurora Central's rally and a nail-biter finish.
"Marmion came out and fought us, and they wouldn't back down," Drye said.
James O'Shaughnessy's hoop with 5 minutes left put Marmion up, 39-33, matching its biggest lead of the second half. But after Czaja knocked down a shot, Adams came up with a loose ball, dribbled around the perimeter until he found an opening along the baseline, then cut the margin to 1.
Adams tied the game with a long 3-pointer a minute later, then found Czaja cutting through the lane on the Chargers' next possession.
"I just came off a solid screen and Mark made a great pass," Czaja said. "We have a tremendous amount of confidence, and we rely on each other."
Trailing 45-44, Marmion had one last chance after Luke Kolquist stepped in and took a charge, but after a missed shot, it was Adams who came away with the loose ball to seal the win.
Adams finished with 28 points, Czaja added 10. Emory led the Cadets (6-5), scoring 15, Smith had 13, and Sean Fichtel scored 10.
The two teams will meet again next Friday at Marmion.
"We pushed them to the limit tonight, so we'll be ready for Friday's game," Burno said.