Aurora Central wins low-scoring game at St. Edward
Nate Drye didn't pull any punches as the Aurora Central Catholic boys basketball coach described the first half of Wednesday's 36-26 victory at St. Edward.
The teams went to halftime of the Metro Suburban Conference crossover tied 10-10 after attempting just 31 combined shots against each other's zone defenses.
"The first half was terrible," said Drye, whose Chargers improved to 9-14. "They would pass for two minutes, we would come down, make one pass, chuck a three, miss it and be right back on defense. The time of possession in the first half had to be like 15:1 them. I don't know what it was. I'm never going to watch the tape so I won't find out."
The second-half tempo was more to ACC's liking. The Chargers led 16-15 midway through the third quarter when they took command with a 13-2 run that bridged the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Danny Cwinski fueled that surge with a pair of baseline buckets. Junior forward Brenden O'Brien capped it with a steal he converted into a layup and a three-point play. He gave ACC a 29-17 lead with seven minutes remaining.
St. Edward played a deliberate offensive style without leading scorer Erik Hill. The senior guard recently returned from a knee injury that forced him to miss the first half of the season. However, in a recent practice he sprained an ankle and slightly sprained his repaired knee. He is not expected back until Feb. 13, he said.
"That was definitely shocking," ACC junior point guard Danny Cwinski said of Hill's absence. "He's a great player."
St. Edward (8-16) struggled against ACC's 2-3 zone defense. The Green Wave shot 27.5% from the field (11 of 40) and 16% from 3-point range. Senior Sebastian Oquendo was the only double-digit scorer with 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
"We played really good defense. We just couldn't score," St. Edward coach Andy Zielinski said. "We tried getting different looks for different kids, but nobody was shooting well. We've actually been playing pretty well, but we had our shooting woes tonight."
The Chargers made 6-of-10 third-quarter shots after making 4 of 14 in the first half. They committed 5 fourth-quarter turnovers, miscues offset by winning the rebounding battle 8-2 and holding St. Edward to 3-of-13 shooting in the final period.
"We've been on a three-game losing streak so that felt good just to bring us back on track," Cwinski said. "We've got two more games this week so we're looking to get two more wins."
Aurora Central Catholic plays two games against its neighbors this weekend. The Chargers are at Aurora Christian Friday and at IMSA Saturday.