Marmion nips Aurora Christian
Aurora Christian and Marmion entered Saturday night’s Suburban Christian Conference crossover basketball game in similar fashion.
Both teams have been trying to climb back to the .500 mark for the season.
Both teams have struggled to win close games — Marmion was 4-7 in games decided by 10 points or less, while Aurora Christian was 2-6 prior to tipoff.
Both teams also came into the contest having lost 4 of their last 5 games, with both teams suffering tough defeats less than 24 hours earlier.
Marmion, which opened its season with an 83-72 loss to Aurora Christian on Nov. 22 the same week as the Cadets’ football squad was preparing to play in the Class 6A state championship game, earned a measure of revenge with Saturday’s 67-65 victory over the Eagles (9-13) in Aurora.
It seemed only fitting that a pair of free throws from senior guard Eddy Grahovec with 13 seconds remaining helped provide the winning margin considering the fact that the Cadets marched to the free-throw line with regularity down the stretch.
The Cadets (10-10), who worked their way into the double-bonus with 6:12 left, connected on 17 of 23 foul shots in the fourth quarter (20 of 30 for the game).
“We relied on getting to the free-throw line,” said Cadets coach Ryan Paradise. “Credit Nick (Scoliere), Eddy and Mark (Berdelle) who have really begun to put their foot down on the gas a little bit and get to the rim.
“They did a nice job tonight, and the free throws kept us in it and kind of gave us a small buffer zone down the stretch.”
That buffer zone was tested by the Eagles in the final seconds, as junior guard Dean Danos’ 3-point attempt rimmed out and Scoliere (16 points) secured the rebound as the buzzer sounded.
“We had a shot at a 3-pointer,” said Eagles coach Steve Hanson. “We were going for the win.”
Paradise was pleased with his team’s defense during the Eagles’ final possession.
“At that point, you just hope your guys play good defense, get a hand up and hope the ball rims out — and it did,” said Paradise.
Danos, who didn’t enter the game until the 6-minute mark of the third quarter (coach’s decision), finished with 14 points and nearly pulled the game out for the Eagles.
His 3-pointer from the top of the key cut the Cadets’ lead to 62-59 with 1:10 remaining, and he added a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left to tie the game at 65-all.
After the Cadets called their final timeout, Hanson decided to apply full-court defensive pressure. But the plan backfired when Grahovec was fouled in the Eagles’ backcourt.
“We knew they were struggling to get the ball inbounds so we were going to play aggressively,” said Hanson. “It was just a silly foul and they hit the free throws.”
Grahovec led the Cadets with 23 points, while Berdelle added 13 points and 10 rebounds. The duo combined to make 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“Every practice, we work on free throws,” said Grahovec. “Coming down the stretch when we’re really tired, that’s when it counts. We were able to knock them down this game.”
Nick Marema scored 14 of his team-leading 21 points during the Eagles’ 26-14 third-quarter surge that turned a 34-26 halftime deficit into a 52-48 lead heading into the final period.
C.J. Schutt added 17 points for Aurora Christian.