Stefanski shoots Marmion past AC
Pete Stefanski poured in a game-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers, to help lead Marmion to a 50-46 victory over visiting Aurora Christian Friday night in Suburban Christian Conference Blue basketball action.
Stefanski, who shot a blistering 67 percent (6-of-9) from beyond the 3-point arc, had 15 of the Cadets’ 26 first-half points.
“I was just comfortable,” said Stefanski, who missed the first meeting between the teams last month (Aurora Christian won, 64-55) due to an ankle injury. “I took the shots I take in practice, and they were going in.”
Stefanski, who added 9 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, could hardly wait for a shot at redemption.
“I was definitely looking forward to it,” said the 6-5 senior. “I wanted to get back at them.”
Trailing 27-26 at halftime, the Cadets (13-10, 5-4) began the third quarter on a 10-0 run in the first 3 ½ minutes to take the lead for good. Senior center Ryan Glasgow scored 5 of his 13 points during the surge, and Stefanski’s sixth 3-pointer of the night helped extend the Cadets’ lead to 39-28 with 3:50 left in the period.
“Ryan’s been playing great for us,” Marmion coach Ryan Paradise said of Glasgow. “It’s a lot easier for our shooters when the ball goes inside first. We got into a little rhythm to start the third quarter of going inside to Ryan and getting some easy shots and also getting some kick-outs.”
Marmion still led 45-36 with 5:21 remaining before the Eagles (17-6, 5-4) mounted a late comeback. First, reserve forward Cory Windle (13 points) connected on a 3-pointer to make it 45-39.
After a Glasgow jumper pushed the margin back to 47-39, C.J. Schutt (13 points) buried a 3-pointer from the corner and hit a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to 47-44 with 2:30 left.
A few moments later, Windle’s steal and layup made it 47-46 with 2:12 remaining.
“Cory made a really big steal there in the fourth quarter,” Eagles coach Steve Hanson said of Windle. “He’s a sneaky good athlete.”
Neither team could capitalize on opportunities over the final 2 minutes, with Marmion missing the front end of 3 consecutive 1-and-1s while the Eagles misfired on a pair of 3-point attempts that would have given them the lead.
After Alex Theisen (6 points) split a pair of free throws to make it 48-46 with 18.1 seconds remaining, the Eagles saw their bid to send the game into overtime foiled when Schutt missed a turnaround jumper in the paint with 3 seconds left.
“We executed the play and got a shot in the middle,” said Hanson. “It just didn’t go in. It was exactly what we were looking for. He’ll make that 9 of 10 times so it’s not a big deal.”
“I was thinking that they were going to go for a 3,” Paradise said of the Eagles’ last-second strategy. “They’ve got a number of real good 3-point shooters. Being up two, I wanted us to take away the 3-point line and try and help out on any cutters through the lane but worst-case scenario, we go to overtime. I was proud of the way we finished on the defensive end.”
Ryan McQuade added 8 points for Aurora Christian, which shot just 4-of-23 from the field in the second half.
“We lost the game in the third quarter when we came out flat,” said Hanson. “We didn’t shoot the ball real well tonight but you’ve got to attribute that to their defense.
“It was a good test for us. It just didn’t go our way.”