Wheaton Academy runs past ACC
The third win in a row for Wheaton Academy came rather easily after an explosive second quarter against Aurora Central Catholic. The Warriors used a 24-5 second quarter run to pace their 71-53 victory Wednesday night in Wheaton.
“The key to the game is we got our running game going,” Wheaton Academy coach Paul Ferguson said.
“I knew they would give us their best shot,” said Warriors senior Cameron Harvey said. “But overall I felt that we had control.”
ACC started out hot, taking a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter. An aggressive press forced two turnovers that the Chargers turned into points. Wheaton Academy clawed back, thanks to buckets by sophomore Gordon Behr and a quick layup from forward Gabe Partain. ACC ended the quarter with a Shawn Soris jumper, and the Chargers nursed a 12-9 lead into the second quarter.
Wheaton Academy (6-4, 3-1) knotted the game at 14 on a Harvey 3-pointer, and from there, never looked back. The Warriors outscored the Chargers 17-3 the rest of the quarter, relying on second quarter outbursts from Harvey, who scored 9 points in the period, and junior Collin Roy, who scored 7 of his 13 points in the second quarter. Also contributing to the Warriors’ dominance was their defense, forcing ACC into several turnovers that led to points.
“I thought we got a lot of easy baskets in transition, and we played well on defense,” Ferguson said.
The final two quarters of the contest were close, but the deficit still remained following the dominant second quarter by the Warriors. The third quarter was a shootout, as both teams traded 3-pointers and fastbreak buckets. The Warriors held the advantage, 21-19 in the third, and took a 54-38 lead into the final quarter. The Warriors were paced by double-digit performances from Harvey, who scored 15, sophomore Gordon Behr’s 13 and Roy’s 13, but Ferguson was quick to point out the strong play of the Warrior bench.
“Cam had a really complete game for us,” Ferguson said. “The play of our bench was great, too. A lot of guys came off the bench, put in a lot of minutes and played really well for us.”