Wrap: St. Francis hands Aurora Central first SCC loss
St. Francis' game at Aurora Central Catholic on Friday night was more than just another Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball contest.
It was more than just a shot at securing a top spot in the conference standings.
The last time ACC and St. Francis played, the Chargers won by 23 points. This time, however, was completely different, as the Spartans topped the Chargers 47-44 in Aurora.
"We had a lot to prove as a team," St. Francis coach Shawn Healy said. "The last time we played them, our performance was really poor, and we wanted to prove something to ourselves, and we did that tonight. It was a big game for the conference standings, but it was a big game for us as a team. Throw out the records, we had something to prove tonight.
"The kids kept their composure and the played with a lot of heart."
"We definitely had a lot to prove, considering how poorly we played last time," added St. Francis senior Brian McMahon, who led all scorers with 15 points. "We wanted to come out and prove we were a better team."
The loss was the first for ACC at home and in the conference this year. The Chargers' record dropped to 18-2, 8-1, while the Spartans are now tied with the Chargers in the conference standings at 7-1 (12-5 overall).
"The first time we played them, I think the score was a little deceptive -- they are not that bad," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "We just so happened to jump on them, but obviously, they are a very good team. … I didn't expect we'd blow them out the first time or this time. It would have been nice, but none of us expected that."
The game was tied four times in each half, the last time at 40 apiece after Bob Vonderhaar's basket with 4:20 left in the game sparked a 9-0 Spartans run.
By the end of the run, the Spartans had their largest lead of the game 47-40 after a Dan McCoy 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining.
Back-to-back baskets from Mike and Mark Adams reduced the deficit to the final score with 1:22 left.
"Every basket, the crowd was into it, and it was a great atmosphere out there," McMahon said. "But we hung in there."
-- Christine Bolin
Driscoll 59, Immaculate Conception 54:ŒDriscoll's David Schwabe wasn't about to let his Highlanders drop their decision against Immaculate Conception.
Schwabe fueled Driscoll's pivotal fourth-quarter run, helping the Highlanders (13-7, 6-2 Suburban Catholic Conference) erase a 10-point deficit and emerge with a win in Addison.
The 6-foot-1 Schwabe nailed a pair of 3-pointers midway through the final period -- the second of which cut the Knights' lead to just 2 points -- all while continuing his recovery from a sprained ankle suffered three weeks ago.
According to Driscoll coach Nick Latorre, Schwabe's energy ran through the entire team.
"(Schwabe) was not going to be denied, and I thought Jake (Lindfors) fed off of that, and the rest of our guys fed off of that," Latorre said. "Everybody's level rose with David's effort.
"He's so competitive, and plays so hard, and has such a will to win and a desire to play the game … you could see the adrenaline (helping him)."
With 5:50 remaining in the game, Immaculate Conception senior Kevin Koch made a layup that gave the Knights a 45-35 advantage -- the largest lead either team would hold all game.
However, it took Driscoll just 1:51 to reclaim the lead. A pair of Steve Schwabe free throws put the Highlanders ahead 47-45.
Driscoll also tightened up its defense during its 12-0 run, forcing the inexperienced Knights (8-9, 4-5) into questionable shot selection down the stretch.
"It comes down to the fact that Driscoll is used to those situations at the end. They're playing those types of games every week," Immaculate Conception coach Darren Howard said. "We're not quite there yet."
Driscoll center Jake Lindfors scored 8 of the Highlanders' final 12 points, including 6 from the free-throw line, to lead all scorers with 26 points.
-- Matthew McClarey
Marmion 58, Montini 47:ŒCalling all tailors -- please report to Marmion Academy at once.
Cadets coach Rashon Burno tore the seat of his pants while watching his team's dramatic victory in Aurora.
Senior forward Tyler Smith provided the game-winning heroics on his putback with two seconds remaining.
"I can't remember my last game-winning shot -- maybe I had one in JV," said Smith, who finished with 18 points. "It's awesome just to come out and help the team win."
Smith's offensive rebound also helped provide one of life's embarrassing moments for Burno, who had to rely on a towel to hide his ripped slacks after the Suburban Catholic Conference contest.
"I jumped up after it (Smith's putback)," Burno said. "I probably shouldn't have jumped like that when I'm wearing these pants."
Junior guard Sean Fichtel, who scored 16 points and added 7 assists, drove the lane and helped draw out the Montini defense before putting up an off-balance shot on the Cadets' final possession.
That left Smith all alone under the basket to pick up the pieces.
"Sean's got the ability to go middle at any time," Smith said of Fichtel. "People know he can shoot that so they collapse (on him)."
A driving layup by Alex Blashewski had given the Broncos a 57-56 lead with 23 seconds left in a fourth quarter that featured 10 lead changes.
"I don't know if there's another kid in our conference that can do what he does off the dribble," Burno said of the Montini senior guard. "He's really tough."
As was the loss for the Broncos (8-11, 3-6), who also received double-figure support from Anthony Blashewski with 16 points and Dex Jones with 15. Alex Blashewski scored 20.
"We did a pretty good of getting to the basket in the fourth quarter," said Montini coach Tom Sloan. "It's too bad you have that kind of an effort and it's kind of wasted on a last-second play.
"We forced a tough shot and didn't block out. You can do every rebounding drill in the world, but you have to do it in a game situation. They made a play to go get the ball and we didn't -- and that turned out to be the difference in the game."
-- Craig Brueske
Geneva 68, Glenbard South 67:ŒGeneva hasn't lacked for close games this season.
So maybe it wasn't so surprising when Glenbard South turned a potential double-digit blowout for the Vikings into another nail-biter.
With a seemingly insurmountable 15-point lead one minute into the fourth quarter, Geneva appeared poised for victory, only to see Glenbard South come all the way back -- and take the lead briefly on two occasions -- before the Vikings escaped with a pulse-pounding win in the Western Sun Conference.
"It was good to pay them back," said Geneva's Max Cary, referring to a 1-point win by Glenbard South over the Vikings in a Nov. 30 game in Glen Ellyn.
Cary hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 9.6 seconds left for what proved to be the winning margin as a wild, 23-footer by Will Hill sailed off the mark in the waning seconds.
Cary finished with a game-high 26 points, but none were more important than his 25th -- the first free throw leading to the bonus. His shot tap danced for several seconds atop the rim before trickling into the cylinder, much to the home crowd's delight.
"My heart stopped when I saw it rattling around up there," Cary said. "It felt like it hung there forever. It was a big relief when it finally went in. The second one went down easy."
After a timeout Glenbard South (8-8, 4-4) inbounded at midcourt, but Geneva's defense was impenetrable, forcing the Raiders to heave a less-than-desirable shot.
-- Jeff Long
Leyden 50, Addison Trail 47:ŒGive Addison Trail credit. The Blazers showed a lot of heart in coming back from a sizable deficit in Friday's West Suburban Gold game against Leyden. But their spirited rally in the waning moments of the fourth quarter fell short as the host Eagles pulled out a tight contest in Franklin Park.
"It has been a recurring theme -- this has been the third or fourth game where we put ourselves down early," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons, whose team trailed 17-2 in the first quarter. "We made plays, but they answered back."
Strong play by guard Ian Horvath in the third quarter helped the Blazers (3-13, 0-5) cut into the Leyden lead as Horvath scored 9 of his team-high 13 points.
Addison Trail pulled ahead for the first time in the game 43-42 with 3:17 remaining in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws from forward Lormuel Jones. That was one of six lead changes in the final 3:17.
One of the biggest plays for the Eagles (4-11, 1-4) came when guard Joseph Natale stole the ball near halfcourt and fed standout forward Daron Guyton, who finished with a slam dunk. Guyton scored with a game-high 20 points and guard Alejandro Regalado tallied 17 points. Natale and Regalado each sank 2 free throws in the final 42 seconds.
Guard Vince Beachem contributed 12 points for the Blazers.
-- Brian Pitts
WW South 62, Glenbard North 51:ŒThree Tigers scored in double figures and Wheaton Warrenville South was able to top Glenbard North in the DuPage Valley Conference.
Starters Derek Babb and Sam Carlson led the Tigers with 14 points apiece, and Kendrick Perry came off the bench to tally 11 points.
"I thought our kids responded tonight," Tigers coach Mike Healy said. "At the beginning of the game, we did a good job of attacking the rim on our shots and a lot of our shots were around the basket."
It wasn't necessarily planned that way as the Tigers scored a handful of baskets on putbacks in the first half to take a 29-20 lead at halftime.
"We gave up 8 points on putbacks in the first half," Panthers coach Erin Dwyer said. "You bust your butt to get stops on defense and you need that rebound and we didn't get it. They outplayed, they out executed us and they're big and it's tough for us to match up."
The Panthers didn't give up many uncontested shots but the offensive balance of the Tigers certainly caused problems.
"With our offense we know anybody can score at anytime," Carlson said. "So it's whoever wants to make an aggressive move so we have a lot of balance. We don't have just one guy that scores all our points."
-- Chris Walker
Timothy Christian 56, Aurora Christian 53, OT: Aurora Christian and Timothy Christian had similar records overall and in the Private School League coming into their matchup.
The two teams also play the same type of up-tempo game, so it figured to be a close one. It was exactly that, as the teams were rarely separated by more than four points throughout the game that went into overtime.
The Trojans got exactly what they needed to win such a tight contest in Aurora.
Trojans senior Andrew Logan, who had just four points in the game, stepped up to the free-throw line for a one and the bonus with six seconds left and his team trailing by 2 points in regulation. After the Eagles iced him with a timeout, Logan hit both free throws and sent the game into overtime.
In overtime Andrew Temple nailed a jumper to give Timothy Christian a 53-51 lead. Marcus Barnes, who had a game-high 13 points, answered with a pull up jumper for the Eagles. Trojan junior forward Peter Tameling hit what would prove to be the game winner with 44 seconds left in overtime when he knocked down a baseline jumper.
"We hit a couple shots," said Timothy Christian head coach Jeff Powers. "Temple hit a big shot, Logan hitting the two free throws was clutch."
-- Chris Cuitino