ACC ready for encore to record season

The gym glowed with unprecedented glee. Amid the sea of hugs and handshakes, small groups posed with broad smiles. Camera phones clicked like flashing sparklers.

Though the scoreboard indicated a routine victory, it was anything but. This one -- a 60-41 win over Immaculate Conception -- carried historic significance for Aurora Central Catholic's boys basketball team.

This was win No. 23 -- tying the school's single season record for victories set by the 1976-77 team that finished second in state. It also gave the Chargers their first Suburban Catholic Conference title in any sport since joining the league in 1997.

Trays of cookies and brownies were passed around afterward. They were so good that fans and players just couldn't get enough.

In many ways, those piles of goodies -- and the temptation -- symbolized ACC's basketball season.

It's been a sweet run, but there's room for more.

Perhaps a warning label should be included -- for the cookies and the expectations. Everybody knows tournament time is a boom or bust scenario, a game-by-game existence when 20-win teams and 2-win teams start anew. For ACC's part, cashing in on a 23-3 regular season record won't be automatic.

After Tuesday's makeup game at South Elgin, the Chargers -- seeded No. 4 in the Class 3A ACC regional -- will have six days to prepare for either No. 13 Orr or No. 20 Hancock, two Chicago schools out of the Public League.

ACC's record won't mean much then, because the Chargers will be 0-0.

That's fine with ACC's stellar senior, Mark Adams, who agrees that reputation -- good or bad -- doesn't do much once the postseason whistle blows. A gaudy record can create as many skeptics as it can believers.

"Very few people expected us to have the season we've had so far," Adams said. "And a lot of people don't think we're as good as our record suggests. So we're still trying to prove people wrong at this point.

"To me, our record says we can play with anybody. We're going into the postseason thinking that way because it fires us up. We know we have the potential to make some noise in the tournament and do something special."

The tough part is that ACC -- which, being a private school, is subjected to the 1.65 multiplier -- will be one of the smallest in Class 3A rather than one of the largest in Class 2A. Had the school had 22 fewer students than this year's enrollment of 461, the Chargers would be in Class 2A alongside fellow SCC member St. Edward (enrollment 439).

But, as coach Nate Drye says, "It is what it is. We're over the crying and pouting part."

Under the two-class system, ACC would have been in the big-school (Class AA) division as well.

Drye doesn't concern himself too much with those issues. Or superstitions. Or seedings. Or comparative scores. Or past matchups. Or, for that matter, ACC's 23 victories.

"It all comes down to how well we're playing more than who we're playing," Drye said. "Obviously every school we see from here on out is going to be bigger than us, so we'll have to be at our best every game. But we're pretty confident that we'll have a shot against anybody we play."

The term "pressure" might not apply, but there's certainly a sense of heightened expectations.

"That's a good thing," Drye said. "And besides, our kids are oblivious to pressure. They don't get into that stuff. Mike (Adams) and Mark are pretty stoic; I really don't think they feel pressure. I'd say they're more excited than nervous. They're looking forward to playing against bigger schools."

A victory next Tuesday creates an intriguing matchup in the regional final against either dangerous No. 5 Glenbard South -- which upset Batavia earlier this year -- or No. 12 Marmion, the Chargers' arch rival. ACC has beaten Marmion three times already, but by narrow margins.

And if ACC does win the regional, the prospect of facing No. 1 seed Marshall looms. No. 2 St. Joseph is also in the sectional.

Yep, it's a far cry from the days as a Class A school when ACC faced the likes of Mooseheart and Somonauk and Paw Paw. Then again, this ACC team has already entered uncharted waters on its own, so new territory is nothing new.

"It's a different road, that's for sure," Drye said.

On paper, the Chargers are geared for a long run with their blend of size and talent. Juniors Mike Adams (6-3) and Nick Czaja (6-6) provide a strong inside presence. Steven Hollon is a reliable ballhandler. Versatile, 6-4 Anthony Kelley has terrific inside/outside skills. Brian O'Donnell and Joey Guth bring more size and dead-eye perimeter shooting off the bench. And the all-around mastery of Mark Adams makes this team a force that just may get its day of reckoning.

"Nobody thought we'd do anything," Kelley said. "But we've stayed at it, and everything has been great so far. So why stop?"

Mark Adams -- one of just two seniors on the team -- is especially cognizant of living this basketball life to its fullest, for his days as a prep star are numbered.

"I just don't want this experience to ever end," Adams said. "When you think of it that way, it definitely pushes everybody to play their best."

So far, so good. Now it's all about making it even better.