Down 16-0, Marmion rallies to beat Marian
The Marmion boys basketball team burned 2 timeouts, were whistled for 3 fouls, committed 4 turnovers and fell behind to Marian Central by 16 points before it scored its first points on Friday night.
It was simply a bizarre beginning to what would prove to be an extremely bruising and erratic game between two of the top teams in the Suburban Christian Conference.
There were technical fouls, delays governed by the referees in trying to maintain control of the game and so many free throws that the charity stripe will now consider these two teams its biggest benefactors.
But, when all was said and done - the done being when Dan Noonan's desperation half court three-point attempt "missed it, Nnnnoooonan!" - the Cadets had hung on for a 73-70 victory to split the season series between the two teams. Marian Central won the prior meeting 33-31.
"It was a great high school game outside some of the extra curriculars," Marmion coach Rashon Burno said.
Mark Berdelle's three-point play with 2:10 remaining in the first quarter finally put the Cadets on the board at 16-3 and they'd close to within 16-9 at the end of the quarter on an Eddy Grahovec 3-pointer.
Grahovec would prove to be a much-needed spark for the Cadets, coming off the bench to drill 3 three-pointers in the first half to pull the hosts to within 32-25 at halftime.
"Unfortunately my guys got down 16-0 but my goal was to get it to 5 or 7 and then you cut it somewhat in half and then you chip away," Burno said. "It easily could've been a 20-point deficit going into halftime. It's just a testament to the kids and what we preach in practice and luckily it paid off."
Marmion (16-7, 5-2) took its first lead of the game thanks to a 6-point swing. Grahovec drained a 3-pointer while Marian Central was called for a foul away from the ball. The Cadets retained possession and Tyler Hlavac connected on a 3-pointer to give the Cadets a 35-34 advantage.
Marian Central (17-8, 5-2) kept it close but a personal foul and a couple of technical fouls with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter helped the Cadets close the quarter with a 9-0 run to make it a 50-43 contest.
Hlavac scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter.
"Early in the season we were so top heavy with Mark Peters dominating pretty much every statistical category," Burno said. "Now guards are hitting shots, guys are hitting free throws, guys are coming off the bench and contributing. That's how you get a more balanced team and get (73) points."
Grahovec finished with 17 points, Peters fouled out with 13 points and 9 rebounds and Greg Askwith chipped in with 11 points, all coming from the free-throw line.
The Hurricanes never recovered the lead, although they pulled to as close as 71-70 with 2 seconds remaining.
Marmion converted 18-of-20 fourth quarter free throws and made 31-of-37 in the contest. Hlavac and Greg Askwith combined to make 26-of-29.
"We practice free throws a lot and practice pressure situations," Burno said. "It's almost déjà vu when you get to that predicament. 'I've shot these before, I've shot a game-winning free throw' and so today was a different testament of what we've been practicing since Nov. 10."
Whether or not practice could've prepared for the Cadets for this one is a whole other story.
"It's a testament to this conference. Every game everyone gets beat up," Burno said. "I mean; it's a dogfight. I think (Marian Central) is the most athletic team other than Wheaton Academy. We beat a really good team."