Mark Adams steps up for ACC

The Aurora Central boys basketball team needed a little of everything to hand Driscoll its first Suburban Catholic Conference loss Saturday night, from sophomore Joey Guth scoring a career-high 14 points off the bench to the work of Mike Adams and Nick Czaja battling 6-foot-10 Albany-bound Jake Lindfors on the boards.

The Chargers also needed their star player to play at his best. Senior Mark Adams delivered just that, and then some.

His 29 points included 8 in overtime, when he steadied the Chargers after Driscoll's stunning 9-2 run over the final 25 seconds of regulation forced overtime in a game it looked like ACC had wrapped up.

Aurora Central wound up outscoring Driscoll 10-6 in overtime for a 77-73 victory. The Chargers stand at 15-1 overall and 6-0 in the SCC.

"It was incredibly important for our guys to bounce back," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "I thought Mark was tremendous in overtime. We really ran our offense in overtime, which I thought was the difference."

Adams is averaging 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the line.

Against Driscoll, Adams scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half and overtime.

"I think he's the best player in conference," Drye said. "He was a little excited at the beginning, but in the second half he was just awesome. He was awesome. I can't really say anything else."

Adams and Lindfors should have quite a battle for SCC player of the year, just like their teams likely will battle it out for the championship. They both scored 29 points Saturday.

Adams played a strong all-around game, leading both teams with 13 rebounds. He made 4 steals, including one with two minutes left in the game that he took to the other end for a slam dunk.

"That was definitely a momentum boost," Adams said. "Getting the crowd into it, getting the team pumped up, ready to play defense. That just picks up the intensity when we make plays like that."

Driscoll eventually sent the game to overtime by hitting three 3-pointers in the final 25 seconds. Lindfors made the final one at the buzzer, banking in a shot from about 30 feet while knocking over an ACC defender.

Drye agreed with the no-call on Lindfors' shot that tied the game at 67.

"You can't call that even though it was a charge," Drye said. "I wouldn't have called it if I was officiating. Dude throws that in, he deserves the points. You bank in a 30-footer you deserve it."

Aurora Central has a 1½-game lead on the Highlanders, with a return game at Driscoll Feb. 2. The Highlanders should have starting guard David Schwabe back for the rematch.

"This gives us some cushion beating the team right behind us," Adams said. "It's going to get the fans coming back and we're going to have games like that the rest of the year."

Another great theft: The night before Adams' steal and dunk against Driscoll, Geneva senior Max Cary made a key defensive play that helped the Vikings hold off Sycamore 72-66.

Cary's steal came with a minute to go and the Spartans threatening to tie. Cary then made his defensive effort even better by launching a long pass that led to a game-sealing layup and 3-point play for Jeremy D'Amico.

"I told him, I don't know what I'm more happy with. Your awareness on defense to come up with that steal, or your awareness to change ends and quickly advance the ball to our basket," Geneva coach Tim Pease said. "You'll see a lot of players in that situation hold the ball, wait to be fouled, they might be apprehensive to continue to play."

After sitting out much of the third quarter with four fouls, D'Amico scored 7 key points in the fourth quarter. The junior has continued to make strides throughout the season.

"He's the guy who hit the big free throws," Pease said. "He had a couple outstanding games at the DeKalb Chuck Dayton tournament. I think every game he adds a little more to his repertoire. We want him to continue to work to stay out of foul trouble so he can play more minutes."

D'Amico, Cary, Alex Turnowychyk and Chris Jordan all average in double figures for the high-scoring Vikings. The fifth starter, Michael Santacaterina, is contributing much in addition to scoring.

"Our young little sophomore point guard does so much for us that scoring baskets is extra for his role right now," Pease said. "That's not to say he's not supposed to shoot, not supposed to look to score in transition, but right now he's our engine, he's pushing the pace, he's getting the teammates open looks, he's running the show. Both him and Sean Grady have done a nice job at the point guard position this year."