Marmion clinches outright SCC title
Marmion's 40-year wait is over.
It took a monumental effort over rival St. Francis while a half-dozen Marmion players battled illness, but the Cadets achieved their top season goal on Monday, capturing their first conference basketball title since 1975 with a tense 61-56 victory over the Spartans in Alumni Hall.
The win earned the Cadets (15-11 overall, 5-1 SCC) the Suburban Christian Conference championship outright. A St. Francis victory would have created a three-way tie of 4-2 records atop the SCC between Marmion, St. Francis and Aurora Christian, a scenario the Cadets were determined to avoid.
"All week, Jake Esp kept telling everyone, 'We're not going to share (the title),'" said Marmion coach Joe Currie, a Marmion graduate and former Marmion player who led the Cadets to the championship in his first year at the varsity helm. "It's always special when you can bring something like this to the school, especially since this is my alma mater and I love this school so much. It especially feels great for the seniors. They've done such a great job for the program."
The victory and conference crown were particularly satisfying because the SCC is disbanding after this season. The league's membership has shrunk to four schools for various reasons, and Marmion, St. Francis and Montini are joining the Chicago Catholic League North Division next school year.
"Winning the conference in the last year of the conference is great," senior center Evan Pickard said. "I feel blessed to play on this team. It was a goal we set this season, and sweeping St. Francis made it extra sweet."
Claiming the SCC title required overcoming significant obstacles. Three players did not dress for Monday's game due to the flu, and Esp and Matt Fletcher were sick throughout the day before summoning enough energy to start the game. A third starter, Hunter Weber, also played under the weather.
With the rotation thinner than usual, Currie turned to senior captain Jordan Glasgow to play iron-man minutes. The football and basketball standout did not disappoint, pouring in a game-high 21 points while running the offense at point guard.
"Glasgow had 20 last time when they beat us, too," St. Francis coach Bob Ward said, referring to Marmion's 50-48 nail-biting victory Jan. 24 in Wheaton. "He's a tough matchup because, besides his strength and quickness and his ability to drive, he can hit the 3 now, too, which makes him even tougher to defend. He's a battler, too."
Despite facing a hostile crowd in Aurora, St. Francis (14-10, 3-3) jumped in front 10-4 behind a pair of 3s and a driving layup from Gabriel Johnson (team-high 15 points). But when the junior forward went to the bench with his second foul with 2:37 left in the first quarter, momentum swung Marmion's way. The Cadets ripped off 11 consecutive points, capped by a Glasgow jumper, for a 15-10 second-quarter lead they never relinquished.
St. Francis stayed on Marmion's heels the rest of the game, tying the score at 38 on a free throw by Clint Bobowski late in the third quarter and trimming a 6-point deficit to 58-56 on a steal and layin by Mike Shaw with :54 remaining. Junior guard Josh Ruddy, who delivered 9 second-half points off the bench, including a pair of 3s, sank a free throw to give Marmion a 59-56 cushion. The Spartans had one last chance to tie, but Johnson's 3-point attempt missed off the front of the rim with :15 to go, and Jon Young buried two free throws to salt the outcome away.
"There's no quit in our guys," Ward said. "They always play very, very hard. We just missed 12 free throws (14 for 26). When you're playing in a hard-fought, close game, you can't afford to do that."
Marmion will look to stretch its winning streak to five games when it visits cross-town rival Aurora Central Catholic on Saturday. St. Francis hits the road again to take on Prairie Ridge Saturday night.