Kelley, Adams fly high in ACC's rout

Anthony Kelley was not entirely sure what he was going to do when he stole the ball and had an uncontested path to the basket.

"I knew I had to do something to top what Mike (Adams) did," Kelley said.

The Aurora Central Catholic senior had a reverse dunk to match Adams' vicious windmill in traffic in the opening half as the Chargers rocked their way in second-night action of the Class 3A Oswego boys basketball regional on Tuesday.

The Chargers bombarded Sandwich with a 34-4 run to close out the first half and never looked back in a 71-39 victory.

Aurora Central (24-3), the top seed in the regional, advances to the championship game Friday night.

The Chargers have second-seeded Oswego (20-6), a prohibitive favorite tonight against No. 3 Yorkville (2-24), in their sights.

Sandwich ended its year at 4-25.

The Indians actually led 4-2 in the opening minutes of the game, but it was all Aurora Central until the second and third units took over early in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers harassed Sandwich into missing 19 of their last 21 shots in the opening half, using a 23-0 burst that Kelley concluded with a tip-in late in the second quarter.

"I thought we did a good job guarding," Aurora Central coach Nate Drye said.

Even with only four players scoring from the floor, Aurora Central exerted its will in all phases against the Indians.

With Adams and fellow post Nick Czaja controlling the paint and Kelley displaying his athleticism on repeated occasions, the Indians had few answers.

"They're talented, there's no doubt about it," Sandwich coach Scott Bantz said. "It's not a whole lot you can say. We'll have better days ahead of us."

Kelley hit his last four shots of the second quarter, and his reverse jam early in the third quarter was the centerpiece of his game-high 23-point night.

"It took us a while to get into drive," Kelley said. "I haven't had a reverse yet. I figured I would try it. We were just having fun."

Czaja added 18 points in limited minutes, and Adams had all 6 of his points in the first half but filled up the stat sheet with 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

As if Aurora Central needed any more assistance, Joey Guth came off the bench and drained four 3-pointers.

"(Guth) was absolutely filling it tonight," Drye said. "He adds another dimension to our team. He's a great shooter."

The junior reserve finished with 17 points.

Sandwich scored 27 fourth-quarter points, including a 19-0 run, to make the final score respectable.