Aurora Christian finishes strong

Aurora Christian can win games even on an off shooting night — as it did Thursday against Hinckley Big Rock — but things sure look better when those shots are falling.

The Eagles did just that in their finale Friday at the 49th annual Plano Christmas Classic. Aurora Christian opened with a 21-point first quarter and closed with a 21-point fourth quarter for a 75-45 win over Ottawa in the fifth-place game.

Aurora Christian (10-3) finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, losing only to the eventual tournament champion Belvidere.

“We played two 3A schools and split,” Aurora Christian coach Steve Hanson said. “We had one clunker. They are a good team but we didn’t give them our best shot which was disappointing. I felt coming in we were pretty good. It was measuring stick, and coming out in fifth place, 3-1, if we can build off this last game right here we’ll be OK.”

Ottawa (9-4) stayed within 5 points after one quarter before the Eagles took control in the second. Ryan McQuade and Jake Hanson hit 3s as the Eagles’ outside shooting opened up the inside in what coach Hanson said was the best he’s seen his team play.

“I thought we played our best game of the year,” Hanson said. “Playing together, made the extra pass, got the ball inside, got up and down the floor, it was our pace. We kind of did everything a little better than we have been.”

Ottawa trimmed a 40-24 halftime deficit to 10 points early in the third quarter. Hanson called time and quickly got his players’ attention.

“I knew they weren’t going to quit,” Hanson said. “We just started standing around and let them drive.”

The Eagles finished the game 10 of 18 from 3-point range and 28 of 56 overall from the field. They also hit 9 of 12 free throws.

McQuade made three of the 3s while Jake Hanson and Hayden McNelis both added 2.

“Jake and Ryan are normally really good shooters and both hit some tonight,” coach Hanson said. “Makes you look a lot better when they go in. They are both good, they are going to keep shooting. You shoot your way into a slump, you shoot yourself out of a slump. We made some shots and that loosened things up. We scored a lot of points against a pretty good defense. We hit some big shots at key times tonight.”

C.J. Schutt and Johnathan Harrell both scored 16 points, McQuade had 13 and Hanson 12.

The Eagles start the new year with a key game at home Thursday against another hot Suburban Christian team, Marmion.