ACC 60, Immaculate Conception 41
History takes a long time.
On Friday, however, the Aurora Central Catholic boys basketball team needed little more than three minutes to make its mark.
With an 11-0 burst to open the second half, the Chargers were well on their way to a 60-41 victory over Immaculate Conception that put the official stamp on an historic night.
ACC (23-3, 12-2) won a share of its first Suburban Catholic Conference title since joining the league in 1997, sharing the crown with Driscoll. The Highlanders defeated Montini 80-61 Friday.
The Chargers' 23rd victory tied a school record -- set by the 1976-77 team that finished second in state --and ensured this year's team will finish with the best winning percentage in school history.
"That's pretty special," ACC coach Nate Drye said afterward with a broad smile.
They shared in the glory in their typical, unselfish style -- crediting each other and paying tribute to the great team effort it's been since they started talking about a conference championship during summer workouts.
"Nobody gave us a chance," guard Anthony Kelley said, "except us."
Things looked just a little shaky for the Chargers early on, as Immaculate Conception (8-16, 4-10) hung tough thanks to the inside play of Matt Purdom, who scored IC's first 11 points of the game.
And even though Mark Adams (game-high 20 points) hit a flurry of three 3-pointers in little more than a one-minute span, ACC wasn't exactly in command, leading just 27-21 at halftime.
Then came the upgrade. ACC rolled out of the halftime locker room with a defensive bent and stifled IC for nearly six minutes. IC went without a field goal and managed just two trips to the foul line in that time as the Chargers outscored the Knights 17-3 to blow open a 20-point lead.
"We weren't our usual selves in the first half," Kelley said. "We talked about picking up our defense, and when that happened, it got our offense going too."
"Our defense was lackadaisical in the first half; the kids weren't active," Drye said. "Our backline…Nick (Czaja), Mark (Adams) and Mike (Adams) looked lethargic in the second quarter. Once they got active and started tipping balls and blocking shots, we got into a flow, and when that happened, we knew it was going to be hard for (IC) to make up that many points."
Purdom, after his 11 points to open the game, was held scoreless the rest of the way. Kevin Koch added 11 points for IC while Antonio Taylor chipped in eight.
"That's the story of our year -- play a strong first half and then, for whatever reason, we come out flat in the third quarter," IC coach Darren Howard said. "(Mark) Adams is a ton, and once they open up the score on you, they're a tough team to catch up against."
Mark Adams finished with four 3-pointers. Kelley (12 points) added two treys as the Chargers hit nine from beyond the arc. More impressively, ACC had 20 assists on its 21 field goals with Kelley and Mark Adams dishing four apiece.
Czaja added 8 points and Brian O'Donnell scored 6 points off the bench for ACC, which closes its regular season Tuesday with a makeup game at South Elgin.