ACC rallies from 19 down, tips AC 82-78
The fact Aurora Central senior Joey Guth dropped 41 points on Aurora Christian and didn't hit either of the two biggest shots should show just a little of how wild and crazy the Chargers' 82-78 victory was in front of a energized crowd at Aurora Christian Saturday night.
Down 19 points just nine minutes into the game, Aurora Central didn't take its first lead until 29 seconds remained. The Chargers finally caught the Eagles on Steve Hollon's 4-point play that gave them a 78-77 lead.
Aurora Christian (2-4, 1-1) misfired with 12 seconds to go. Ryan Harreld's 2 free throws put Aurora Central (5-1, 1-1) ahead by 3, and the Chargers fouled preventing the Eagles from a 3-point shot that could have tied the game.
After both teams split free throws, the Eagles had one more desperation chance to tie the game but their full-court pass went out of bounds with a second left, giving the Chargers an improbable victory.
"I thought we would come back, it was a matter of time," Hollon said. "We kept pushing and pushing. I knew it was coming to me and I just wanted to knock down the open shot."
On the possession before Hollon's 4-point play, Harreld knocked down a long 3-pointer that cut the Eagles' lead to 75-74. After Nick Marema made two free throws for the Eagles, the Chargers worked the ball to Hollon in the corner, and he calmly drained the 3-pointer while getting fouled. His free throw rattled around the rim and dropped.
On both Harreld's and Hollon's clutch 3-pointers, the Chargers benefitted from the attention Aurora Christian devoted to Guth - and for good reason. All Guth did was hit 10 of 15 3-point attempts, scoring his 41 points with an incredible outside shooting display. Only 1 of his points came at the free-throw line.
"We thought everybody would go with Joe," Aurora Central coach Nate Drye said. "Him Harreld) knocking down that shot was key and Steve knocking down his shot, that was obviously a huge play.
"We probably didn't deserve one and got one tonight."
Aurora Christian certainly deserved a better fate after racing to a 27-11 lead after one quarter, then taking its biggest lead of the night on Marema's 3-pointer to open the second quarter.
Often when a team loses a huge lead, it's because it becomes tentative and plays too passive on offense. The Eagles did anything but that, scoring 16 points in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth. Marema, a sophomore, led the way with 22 points and freshman Ryan Suttle scored 15.
Before Hollon's 4-point play, Aurora Central tied the game only once, at 50 after a 6-point possession. Harreld hit a 3-pointer while a foul was called down low, then Guth split free throws, got the rebound on the miss and scored.
Aurora Christian answered immediately with Marema's second of four 3-pointers and built its lead back up to as many as 8 points in the fourth quarter.
"It seemed like every time we were going to get over the hump they came down and hit a big 3 and we couldn't get over the hump," Drye said.
Guth scored 6 points in the first quarter, 15 in the second, 6 in the third and 14 in the fourth. He's now averaging 29.3 points a game in a breakout senior season. "I was just out there playing, I had no idea how many points I had," Guth said. "I just wanted to win."
Hollon added 14 points and 7 assists for the Chargers and Harreld scored 13. Aurora Central shot nearly as well on 3-pointers - 14 of 24 - as free throws (14 of 23).
"Our guys kept their composure even when they were losing the whole game and they executed our plays and we got looks and we had guys knock down huge shot after huge shot," Drye said. "It was crazy."
The Eagles started three sophomores and a freshman, and the underclassmen combined for 50 points. Aurora Christian also got double-doubles from both of its two senior big men, Dean Griffing (13 points, 15 rebounds) and Salomon Kabongo-Kooper (12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocked shots).
"We came in here and a lot of people said we would get blown out," Aurora Christian coach Steve Hanson said. "We didn't think we'd get blown out, we thought we could win the game and I think we showed we could have, should have maybe won the game.
"Our youth showed a little bit in key spots but we played pretty well. Guth was just unbelievable. We worked hard to stop him. We missed him a couple times but he's pretty good. I'm proud of our guys and if we can use this to get better we're on the right track."