ACC downs St. Francis to stay unbeaten

The Aurora Central boys basketball team came into Friday night averaging over 70 points per game, having beaten their first 6 opponents by an average of more than 30 points.

But St. Francis came to Aurora determined to give the Chargers a game, then did just that for three quarters.

Though the Chargers muscled out a 57-43 Suburban Catholic Conference win, thanks to Anthony Kelley's 22 points and Nick Czaja's determined effort down the stretch, it wasn't easy, and it wasn't pretty.

"Tonight, we never got any flow going," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "As long as we shut teams down defensively, I know we're going to win. They're a good team and they hung around a lot longer than we wanted them to."

Offense was at a premium in the first half, as the Spartans' man-to-man defense matched Aurora Central's swarming zone.

"They were bodying me a lot and playing in-your-face defense," Kelley said. "I just had to find a way to get past that."

Slowed by foul trouble, the Chargers (7-0, 3-0) opened a 25-12 lead at the break after Kelley dominated the second quarter.

"Since they were playing us so tight, the backdoor was open and we got a lot of points off that," Kelley said. "We just had to get used to what they were doing and start finding the lanes."

But St. Francis (2-4, 1-2) would not go away with out a fight, and once Clint Pierce and David Palash started dropping shots in the third quarter, the Spartans crept back into the game.

"I challenged the kids at halftime," St. Francis coach Sean Healy said. "We have a lot of potential, and good things will happen for this team if we stay on task."

The second of Pierce's 4 three-pointers pulled St. Francis to within 10, 36-26, and when Ryan Ferguson scored on a put-back the Spartans were within striking distance.

"We played hard and performed at a high level," Healy said. "But to beat a team like Aurora Central you have to execute on all facets of the game."

Playing with 4 fouls, and having missed much of the first three quarters, Czaja came out with a vengeance at the start of the fourth, scoring 9 points and blocking 2 shots in the final 8 minutes to help his team put the game away.

"I was determined to make an impact however I could," Czaja said. "I wanted to stay aggressive and not play tentative."