Rocky road for Aurora Central

After watching Stanford-bound guard Chasson Randle drop 35 points on his team earlier this year, Aurora Central coach Nate Drye was determined not to let the Rock Island star beat him again Tuesday at the Class 3A Northern Illinois University supersectional.

The Chargers came out in a diamond-and-one, Joe Medgyesi chased Randle all over the court, and the future Pac 10 player finished with a more reasonable 20 points.

But the Rocks proved there's a reason they are ranked No. 3 in the state. They are a lot more than a one-man team, placing four players in double figures on their way to a 72-55 victory.

That margin wound up similar to the Rocks' 82-66 victory earlier this year at Aurora Central. The level of competitiveness, however, was at an entirely different level.

The Chargers fell behind 34-10 in the first meeting and were never in the game. This time the Chargers led much of a first quarter that ended with Rock Island up 19-15. Aurora Central scored the first 5 points of the third quarter to pull within 34-29 before a 15-1 Rocks run broke the game open late in the third quarter.

Rock Island had never trailed in its four postseason wins until ACC started the game going ahead 4-0.

"The first time we played them it wasn't competitive," Drye said. "Our kids were determined not to let that happen tonight. I was proud of the way our guys fought tonight."

Limiting their turnovers to 12 against the Rocks' pressure was a key for the Chargers keeping this game closer. But 3-for-16 shooting on their 3-point attempts killed any chance for what would have been a David vs. Goliath-sized upset.

"If we are going to beat a team like that we have to make more shots," Drye said. "I thought we handled their pressure."

Rock Island (28-3) will play Brooks in the state semifinals at 12:15 p.m. Friday in Peoria. Rocks coach Thom Sigel got the victory that had eluded his team in their last two postseason trips to DeKalb in 2003 and 2009.

"We got the jinx off of us," Sigel said. "Credit to Aurora Central Catholic because they kept coming. Our guys responded to their runs."

In addition to Randle, Romal Davis scored 18 points, and Keith Keesy and Denel McCauley both had 13 for the Rocks.

"We wanted to do everything in our power to let the other guys beat us," Drye said. "We weren't going to let it (Randle's 35 points) happen again. Joe has a little fire to him. He accepts the challenge. I thought he did a great job trailing him (Randle) all night."

With Randle in check early, the Chargers played right with the Rocks in the first quarter. Aurora Central hit Robert DeMyers with a long pass off the opening tip for a quick basket just 10 seconds into the game. Randle actually missed a dunk in the quarter and was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim that kept the momentum on the Chargers' side.

"I don't know what it was, I just had to laugh it off," Randle said.

The teams traded the lead six times in the first quarter. Aurora Central held its last one at 11-10 on Harreld's drive through the lane for a bucket.

The Rocks built a 34-24 halftime lead. The Chargers mounted a quick strike in the third quarter on consecutive buckets by DeMyers and a Tim Fernandez free throw, making it 34-29 with 6:43 left in the third quarter.

Rock Island flashed its explosiveness, turning that 5-point margin to 16 in a mere 1:40 stretch. They eventually made it a 15-1 run for a 49-30 lead, putting the Chargers in too deep of a whole to rally from.

Six of the Rocks points in the spurt came on second-chance attempts. They outrebounded the Chargers 38-26 for the game.

"We didn't do a good job on the defensive boards and I think that's what let them go on the run," DeMyers said.

Matt Myers gave the Chargers a spark with 8 points off the bench in the second half including a pair of 3s. It wasn't enough to catch the Rocks, who led 56-41 after three quarters and never by less than 15 points in the fourth quarter.

"It's hard to make up a double-digit lead against them," Drye said. "They are too good defensively to rip off a 10-0 run."

Harreld led the Chargers with 18 points. While his 3-point shot was off at 1 of 7, he made 7 of 8 free throws and 4 of 7 from the field while also showing his athleticism with a couple blocked shots against taller opponents.

"We came out fired up and had nothing to lose," Harreld said. "Making it downstate would have been awesome but I'll never forget this. Our fans were awesome. Pretty much our whole school showed up. It was sweet."

DeMyers added 12 points for the Chargers and a team-high 6 rebounds but no blocked shots after swatting 21 in hist last 3 postseason games.

Aurora Central ended the year at 17-14 with the first sectional title since 1991. The Chargers gave their fans quite a ride. Another huge turnout showed up in DeKalb Tuesday, just like they did last week in Woodstock.

"We want to get to Peoria," Drye said. "This wasn't our goal to get here. We want got to the door, we want to kick it down. I think we've been doing pretty well for quite a few years. We would anticipate not dropping off and being back here and winning this game next year."

Just 13-13 in the regular season, the Chargers played their best basketball when it mattered most.

"I'm so proud of them for coming together and putting it together finally," Drye said. "I thought we were better than we played for a good portion of the year. I'm just glad they realized their potential. They had the potential to be good all year. I'm very happy they were able to do it. Put together a run and do it. You don't want to say, "That team should have been good." They did it when it counted and that's what I'll remember about them."