Aurora Christian advances to Class 2A sectional final
CLIFTON - Aurora Christian seemed to take its time finding its bearings on Wednesday night in its Class 2A Clifton Central sectional semifinal matchup with Bishop McNamara.
But once they did, the Eagles were a sight to behold in a 65-53 victory over the Fightin' Irish. Aurora Christian rattled off 16 consecutive points late in the third quarter and took control of a game that for most of the first half was a nip-and-tuck battle.
"You have to credit Bishop McNamara for some of that," Aurora Christian coach Pat McNamara said. "They played good defense, they were tough and strong. But we kind of opened up in the second half."
The win lifts Aurora Christian (24-5) into Friday night's sectional title game where it will challenge Reed-Custer (27-3) at 7 p.m.
Early on, Aurora Christian struggled to find its rhythm and was having real difficulty keeping the Fightin' Irish (16-15) off the glass, particularly senior Daniel Hoekstra, for second chance scoring opportunities.
Hoekstra finished the first half with 15 points, mostly from the low block as Bishop McNamara carried a 32-31 lead into halftime.
But some subtle adjustments paid dividends as the Fightin' Irish were virtually neutralized in the second half. Hoekstra had no points in the second half.
"We just made some adjustments on how we were going to cover him," McNamara said. "He's a tough cover, he's a good player."
And once the defensive issues were solved the offense really started to click. A 3-point barrage from RD Lutze and Jake Wolfe allowed Aurora Christian to quickly erase an early 4-point third quarter and seize complete control of the game. The four treys, three of which came from Lutze, and 4 free throws from Pat McNamara Jr. came over a stretch of seven possessions and gave the Eagles a 51-39 lead.
"We just did a little better job and I think our kids got a little tougher and we came out a little harder in the second half," McNamara Sr. said.
In the fourth quarter, Aurora Christian slowed the tempo and reeled off minutes of time with a delay offense crushing any chance of a Fightin' Irish rally.
Lutze and Wolfe each had 22 points to guide Aurora Christian. Tanner Dissell also chipped in 11 points off the bench, including a trio of critical 3-pointers in the second quarter which allowed Aurora Christian to keep contact early in the game.