Aurora Central 52, Marmion 49

What do you get when you hit two 3-pointers in the game's final 7 seconds?

If you're the Aurora Central Catholic boys basketball team, pandemonium along with one of the biggest victories of the season.

Mark Adams' 25-foot catch-and-shoot 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted the host Chargers (22-3, 11-2) to a dramatic 52-49 come-from-behind victory over cross-town rival Marmion (12-10, 7-5) Friday night before a standing-room-only crowd in Aurora.

Coming into the fourth quarter, Adams (10 points) was still searching for his first field goal of the night, having misfired on his first attempts -- all from beyond the 3-point arc.

But he literally saved his best for the Chargers' last possession, securing a kick-out pass from Brian O'Donnell before hoisting the long-distance attempt.

"I kind of couldn't hit a shot all game," said Adams, who admittedly was still slowed by a sprained ankle suffered a week and a half ago. "I was struggling all game. I couldn't believe that shot went in. What a shot to make there at the end."

The shot left Marmion coach Rashon Burno in somewhat of disbelief moments after the emotionally draining Suburban Catholic Conference clash.

"I still want to see the clock," Burno said. "That's a lot of time to catch, dribble, pass and shoot the 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left.

"Other than that, it was an unbelievable game. It was a great high school basketball game."

It wasn't the Chargers' only clutch shot down the stretch.

Clinging to a 49-46 lead, the Cadets missed a pair of free throws with 25 seconds remaining and O'Donnell made them pay, nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score at 49 with 7 seconds remaining.

"Brian just hit a great shot," said Chargers coach Nate Drye. "He's a great shooter. I probably should have had him in there earlier in the second half, but we were going more defensive."

A traveling violation on the Cadets' next possession gave the Chargers one final chance to win it in regulation.

"On the last play, we kind of ran a play for Brian (O'Donnell) and Mark was supposed to be a decoy. But Brian got it to him and great players make great shots," Drye said. "(Adams) was probably going about 50-60 percent because he couldn't jump and he couldn't put the ball on the floor and get to the hoop. But he came through when we needed him to. That's all you can ask."

Marmion, which held Aurora Central Catholic to 4-of-21 first-half shooting while opening a 23-14 halftime advantage, missed 4 of 6 free throws in the game's final minute.

Tyler Smith led the Cadets with 13 points, while Sean Fichtel added 11.

Nick Czaja paced the Chargers with 14 points before fouling out with 3:57 left.

"We thought the whole key to the game was that Nick got it going in the third and fourth quarters and really got us back," said Drye.

The win kept ACC atop the SCC standings with a game remaining (Feb. 15 against Immaculate Conception). St. Francis and Driscoll also are tied for first and play each other tonight.

"All we have to do is win and we're not going to leave first place," said Drye. "That's a pretty nice thing."