Lisle ousted in final
Four words by Lisle coach Mark LaScala said it all.
"It was a buzzsaw," LaScala said after No. 3 seed Aurora Christian torched the nets in a 76-47 victory to earn the Class 2A Lisle regional championship on Friday, the Eagles' first regional title since 2008.
Starting with Ryan McQuade's 3-pointer 17 seconds into the game, Aurora Christian began on a 20-1 run.
No. 4 seed Lisle could hardly establish its post offense against a constricting 1-2-2 zone defense and the Eagles, led by point guard Dean Danos and his game-high 28 points, were unrelenting.
"We've had starts like that earlier in the year, but the only difference is we haven't closed out as well as today," said Danos, the junior who hit four 3-pointers and capped his night with 2 free throws for a 72-42 lead with 3 minutes, 43 seconds left.
"We're coming more together as a team, that's the most important thing," Danos said.
Aurora Christian (13-16) placed Danos, McQuade, Ryan Suttle and Nick Marema all in double figures. They take their hot hand into Wednesday's Aurora Christian semifinal against Providence-St. Mel, a 49-40 winner over Timothy Christian.
"Ever since that (Immaculate Conception) game (a 70-47 Eagles win Feb. 11), our last two games of the season really brought us into the postseason. We've been playing good ever since," Suttle said.
His 15 points included an up-and-under reverse layup that had Aurora Christian leading 27-12 early in the second quarter.
"It's hard to get out and guard everybody when every single one of them could shoot," said Lisle point guard Anthony Vacco.
As hot as the Eagles were in scoring the first 13 points and capping their 20-1 run on a pull-up jumper by Marema, who scored 10 points, Lisle (10-20) missed its first 10 shots.
Playing catch-up, the Lions went to the 3-point arc where they were 0 for 7 in the first quarter and 3 for 25 until both teams substituted in the last three minutes of the game. Aurora Christian made 6 of 11 threes in a first half it led 42-22.
"They had a great game plan," LaScala said. "They packed it in early on us, turned it into kind of a 3-point shooting contest and we weren't going to win that."
When Lisle beat Aurora Christian 80-70 on Dec. 18, it got the ball in to 6-foot-6 Chris Wray and 6-4 Phil Palicka.
With Marema heading the 1-2-2 zone and C.J. Schutt down low, the Eagles held Wray to 8 points and Palicka to 11, tying Kazim Khan for Lisle honors.
"We couldn't get it inside and it was just a struggle from there," Palicka said. "Then on top of it we weren't getting stops. They'd stop us, get a bucket and then it'd be like... they crushed us."
There were brief spans, such as the second quarter when Wray, Palicka and Khan cut the deficit to 30-18, that Lisle's vocal fans could cheer.
Aurora Christian silenced them with continuous fast-paced offense that had the Eagles leading 61-37 after three quarters.
"As a coach you're still a little bit nervous because you don't want your kids to settle in and think the game's over," Aurora Christian coach Steve Hanson said of the early onslaught. "But yeah, it definitely settled me down. Just watching your kids play with that kind of confidence is fun."