Guth shoots ACC to another win
Joey Guth picked a good time to come out of his shooting slump.
Check that - the Aurora Central Catholic junior picked a perfect time.
Guth scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Chargers were able to sneak out of Elgin with a 63-60 win over St. Edward in Suburban Catholic Conference action.
"I usually do good in this gym," said Guth, who dropped 20 points in a junior varsity game in the same gym earlier in the day. "Every game I have played here I shot well. I've been struggling for the past 6 or 7 games. It was great (to break the slump)."
St. Edward (6-10, 5-3) led almost the entire game, until Guth jacked a 3-pointer from the right corner, his spot of choice, to put the Chargers (15-1, 8-0) up 58-56 with 3:16 left to play. The lead was shot lived as the Chargers' bench was given a technical for coming onto the floor to celebrate, which was followed by a technical on ACC coach Nate Drye.
St. Edward senior guard Josh Dix (16 points) went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line to put the Wave back on top 59-58.
But on ACC's next possession, Anthony Kelley found Guth, who put the Chargers up for good 60-59 with 2:56 remaining. Guth finished the fourth quarter 4 of 6 from the floor, including three 3-pointers.
Following a brilliant shooting effort for the first three periods, St. Edward was 0 of 6 from the floor and scored just 6 points in the fourth quarter (0 of 2 from beyond the arc). The Green Wave had shot 54.8 percent (17 of 31) in the first three quarters and were an amazing 11-of-17 from beyond the 3-point line.
"They put pressure on us," said St. Edward guard Riley Coleman, who made three 3-pointers. "We didn't hit our shots. When we went to move, we had someone else there."
St. Edward took a 19-14 lead through one quarter by making its first 6 shots, including five from 3-point range. The Green Wave extended their lead to 54-45 by the end of the third quarter, going 5 of 6 from the 3-point line in the third period. Steve Martin led the Wave with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Coleman (12 points, 5 assists) and Phil Johnson (12 points) each finished in double digits.
"Our only goal before the game was to play hard from start to finish and we did that," Green Wave coach Keith Chuipek said.
Chargers forward Mike Adams led all players with 20 points, with Kelley (15 points, 6 steals, 5 assists) and Nick Czaja (12 points) each contributing double-digit efforts. But for the Chargers, Guth was the star.
"He's the one who got us going," Drye said. "That's why he was in the game tonight. It's great to see him come through the way he did."