Tempers flare as Wave loses fifth straight
St. Edward's boys basketball team has fallen on some frustrating times lately.
The Green Wave's turbulence may have come to a head after St. Edward fell 66-40 at Marian Central on Saturday night. After the Green Wave dropped their fifth straight game, Green Wave coach Keith Chuipek and Marian Central coach Curtis Price exchanged words before being pulled apart by their respective coaching staffs. Neither coach physically touched the other, but tempers were clearly flailing.
"I think he was frustrated," Price said. "It happened to us. We were humbled when they beat us at their place."
Chuipek, who declined to comment on the incident, had several reasons to be frustrated.
St. Edward (6-13, 2-7 Suburban Catholic Conference) made 8 of its first 16 shots to take a 20-13 lead with 5:47 left in the second quarter. Marian Central (9-11, 3-5) tied the game at 25 by then end of the first half, before exploding on an 18-3 run in the third quarter to put the game away.
St. Edward went 1-of-13 from the floor in the third quarter and was outrebounded 12-3. Andy Stochl, who led all scorers with 19 points, scored 8 in the third quarter for the Hurricanes.
"It's been typical of our team, either things don't go well in the beginning and we get in a rut or we take a lead and get complacent," Chuipek said. "(Marian Central) is athletic. They got after it in the third quarter."
The Canes finished with a 20-5 advantage on the boards in the second half, but were equally as deadly at drawing old-fashioned 3-point plays. Four times during a 19-5 run during the second and third quarters, Marian Central was able to convert a layup and free throw. Ben Krol (12 points) did it twice in the second quarter, but Stochl (9 rebounds) gave Marian Central its first lead of the game by converting the and-one on the first possession of the second half. Marian Central went on to shoot 60.8 percent (14-of-23) from the floor in the second half.
"In the second half, they came out more ready," said St. Edward center Steve Martin, who finished with 6 points and 3 rebounds. "It was really, really frustrating."
Josh Dix led the Green Wave with 12 points in the first half, but failed to score in the second half. Dix went 3-of-8 in the first half and the 0-of-4 in the second half, including 0-of-3 from beyond the 3-point line. Dix's performance was indicative of the Green Wave, who shot just 3-of-24 from long range in the game.