Aurora Christian beats Harvest to win own tourney
Taaj Davis' third quarter essentially ended any doubts about the ultimate outcome of the championship game of the Burney-Wilkie Classic Saturday night.
Scoreless and saddled with three fouls in the opening half, Davis scored all 15 of his points in the third quarter on five 3-pointers to help lead Aurora Christian to a 65-38 victory over Harvest Christian in the Eagles' post-Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament.
But Davis' third-quarter personal eruption was far from the only damage Aurora Christian performed.
Jaehshon Thomas had 13 of the Eagles' 19 first-quarter points before finishing with a game-high total of 21.
The Eagles' Will Wolfe was the third Aurora Christian player in double digits with 16 points.
Harvest Christian (3-1) was on fire early as the first eight scores of the game were 3-point possessions.
The teams combined for seven 3-pointers to start the game, and Thomas' 3-point play deadlocked the game at 12-12 midway through the opening quarter.
The Lions' Grant Young connected on three 3-pointers in the first quarter, but the senior guard would not score again in finishing with 9 points.
The second quarter is when Aurora Christian (7-1) first created separation that would culminate in virtually the entire fourth quarter being played with a running clock as mandated by the new IHSA rule for spreads of 30 or more points in the last eight minutes.
Aurora Christian outscored the Lions 17-4 in the second quarter to open up a 36-21 lead at the intermission.
Davis almost single-handedly matched the Lions' 17-point output for the second half with his five consecutive made jumpers from outside the arc.
Thomas and Davis sat out the whole fourth quarter; Wolfe played only sparingly to score the last of his 6 field goals.
Lawrence Nyong added more contributions for the Eagles in his role as one of the first players off the bench. The senior forward scored 8 points.
Returning all-area player Jack Nohava led Harvest Christian with 12 points. Matt Ellett also converted three 3-pointers to finish with 9 points for Harvest Christian.
Aurora Christian was the final undefeated team from Chicagoland last season before having its season end with a Class 1A sectional-final loss. The Eagles have been bumped to Class 2A this year as a result of the private-school success factor.
In the third-place game, Marmion turned back Joliet Catholic 55-37.
Aurora Central Catholic defeated St. Edward for fifth place 56-46.