ACC outlasts Marmion in OT

Aurora Central Catholic's Anthony Kelley had been waiting for the right moment all night to dunk.

The 6-foot-5 senior guard on the Chargers' boys basketball team averages about a dunk a game, so in the first minute of the overtime period against Suburban Catholic Conference rival Marmion, Kelley got his wish.

Teammate Brian O'Donnell executed a perfect pass for Kelley to throw down the jam that fueled the momentum in ACC's favor, as the Chargers went on to beat the Cadets 35-33 at home Saturday night in a gym that was packed to capacity.

"It's always fun to watch Anthony dunk," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "I thought that was a pretty good time to do it. The kids executed perfectly, Brian made a great pass and Anthony went up and hammered it hard. It was a big momentum thing to get the first basket of overtime, get it off started right... to finally get the lid off the rim in a very fun way."

"When coach called that, I was like, 'Finally,'" Kelley said. "It was a big momentum boost."

The dunk was the first basket in overtime after both teams ended up with 31 after four quarters. Marmion's only two points of the extra quarter came courtesy of a pair of free throws from Marmion leader Sean Fichtel, who led all players with 16 points.

A field goal from O'Donnell with 2:25 left in overtime was ACC's eventual go-ahead basket. Fichtel was close to being the hero for the Cadets, as his launch from 3-point land as time expired looked promising.

"You want your best player with the ball at the end," Marmion coach Rashon Burno said.

"Sean is their best player, so we thought he was going to take it," Kelley added.

Both teams had chances to end the game in regulation, but both failed to connect on their attempted baskets. Marmion missed with 12.5 seconds remaining, and Adams grabbed the rebound. After a series of timeouts, ACC missed its chance as the buzzer sounded.

ACC led most of the game, despite playing at the Cadets' slow pace. The Chargers led by as much as 27-19 at the end of three quarters, but that didn't last long. Marmion ended up outscoring them 12-4 in the final frame. That was the only quarter either team posted double-digits in points.

"We are more of an up-tempo team," Adams said. "We like getting out on the breaks. Their first possession was about a minute and a half, so we knew we were going to be in for a slow game."

The Chargers were led by Kelley's 15 points and 7 rebounds. Adams finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds. He was also responsible for scoring all of ACC's points in the opening quarter.

"Mike was really good tonight," Drye said. "He was focused and ready to play."

ACC is still perfect at 10-0, 6-0. Marmion dropped to 5-5, 4-2. This capped a 2-0 weekend in conference play for the Chargers.

"It was a big weekend for us, and we got through it," Kelley said. "It's just another step in the season."