Guth's 29 lead ACC past St. Edward
Joey Guth loves playing at St. Edward's gym.
The Aurora Central Catholic senior always has big offensive production against the Green Wave, with Friday night being no exception.
Guth nailed a 3-pointer in the final minute of the third period giving the Chargers a 43-34 lead and a huge momentum boost entering the fourth quarter. ACC went on to outscore St. Edward 30-21 in the final period to take a 73-55 Suburban Christian Gold victory.
Guth finished with a game-high 29 points and shot 90 percent (9 of 10) to counter 11 3-pointers from St. Edward.
"I always love to shoot here every year," said Guth, who finished a perfect 5 of 5 from 3-point land. "I come here and I shoot the lights out. I wanted to be in the whole game and I wanted to keep shooting."
The Green Wave had a lights-out shooter of their own as sophomore call-up Eddie O'Halloran sank five 3-pointers of his own and kept the Green Wave (10-14, 2-7) in a tight game up until late in the third quarter.
After drawing a foul on a 3-point attempt, O'Halloran made 2 of 3 free throws to bring St. Edward within 34-33 with 4:01 left in the third quarter. Green wave guard Michael Ellis (8 points) and Chargers' center Kent Brauweiler (10 points, 7 rebounds) each split a pair of free throws again allowing the Chargers (13-9, 7-1) a 35-34 lead.
"(Guth) had a couple of 3-pointers to put them up 9 and we kind of fell apart after that," said O'Halloran, who played in just his third varsity game of the season.
But a 3-pointer from Paul Kaminski (13 points) and a basket from Brauweiler cushioned ACC's lead to 40-34 before Guth jacked his 3-pointer to end the third quarter with ACC ahead 43-34.
ACC would lead by as many as 15 points midway through the fourth quarter.
"We worked so hard to get it close and (Guth) hits a 3 and then we foul someone and it was a 10-point game," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said.
After scoring 16 points in the first three quarters and shooting 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, O'Halloran was just 1 of 3 in the final period, as he Green Wave shot 5 of 12 from long range in the fourth. St. Edward was a collective 17.6 percent (3 of 17) in the third quarter.
Steve Hollon added 9 assists for the Chargers, who shot 62.5 percent (15 of 24) in the second half.
"I thought we executed late in the third quarter," ACC coach Nathan Drye said. "We made some nice passes. Joey was able to get open and he came up with some big 3s."