Aurora Christian goes cold
Everything that could go wrong did for Aurora Christian Wednesday night in a Suburban Christian Conference crossover game against Marian Central in Aurora.
The Eagles didn't score for the game's first five minutes, 40 seconds, falling into a hole that just got deeper as the night went on in a 64-49 loss that wasn't as close as the score indicates.
Aurora Christian (8-10) hit just 3 of 15 shots in the first quarter, the start of a 23.4 percent shooting night (15 of 64).
“We just could not make a basket from the beginning and I don't know how or why because we have been playing pretty well,” Eagles coach Steve Hanson said. “We fell apart there tonight. Hopefully it is just a one-game thing.”
Dean Danos finally put points on the scoreboard with a drive. He hit a 3-pointer a minute later to bring the Eagles within 8-7, the closest they would get. The Hurricanes led 14-7 after the first quarter.
“We came out shooting poor and kind of let it filter into the rest of our game,” Hanson said. “All of a sudden we got a little impatient and it was just downhill from there. We got completely selfish and impatient and hopefully we learned that doesn't work.”
Marian Central (9-11) built a 32-21 halftime lead then broke the game open in the third quarter outscoring the Eagles 17-4. Again Aurora Christian went cold, not scoring until the 2:51 mark of the third.
The difference, Hanson said, between the two scoring droughts was selfish play.
“The second half we didn't get many good looks,” Hanson said. “We were completely out of whack not doing what we were supposed to do. Three guys running something and two guys playing by themselves. We have to figure that out. We have to play together.”
Marian Central took its biggest lead at 56-31 early in the fourth quarter. Both teams got their bench extended playing times with 28 players getting in the game and 22 scoring including the final points of the night by Aurora Christian junior Cody Slamans on a free throw. Freshman Jonathan Harrell helped the Eagles end the game outscoring the Hurricanes 17-8 with 5 points and 5 rebounds.
Danos led the Eagles with 11 points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. Marian's Jake Everly paced all scorers with 18.
“We came in with the idea of playing great defense and I think our defensive pressure really made them rush into a lot of shots,” Marian coach Curtis Price said. “I know they have a great shooting team and we wanted to make them uncomfortable when they were shooting the basketball.”
Wednesday's game was the Eagles' first since losing in the final seconds Friday at Wheaton Academy. They return to action Saturday at St. Edward.
“Maybe a little letdown from that (Wheaton Academy loss),” Hanson said. “It's hard to get geared up for a game like that and get so close and lose. I wish I knew how to fix it because I'd do it right away.”