Marmion comes up short in home opener
Carlos Liz gets an opportunity to speak to his team following games and at the end of every practice.
His message lately - just play for each other.
"We all put in an insane amount of time," Liz said following Marmion's 54-45 loss to De LaSalle on Tuesday.
Liz, who finished Tuesday with 14 points, two rebounds and a block, points to practices and lifting sessions in particular.
"It makes no sense to go out there and not reward each other for it," Liz said. "I really emphasize playing for each other and wanting to win for each other."
Marmion (1-4) is enduring a frustrating beginning to the season, suffering close losses to Chicago Austin, Batavia and Waubonsie Valley at the Windmill City Class Thanksgiving tournament last week. In those three games combined, Marmion lost by an average of 13 points.
The one loss, a 74-50 finish against the Windmill champion Waubonsie, is the outlier. The other losses are from 10 and six-point deficits.
Tuesday's game showcased similar flashes of Marmion's potential, but finishing the job late in games is one it still is learning to do.
The Cadets trailed 38-35 entering the final quarter. After the Cadets allowed two offensive rebounds, De La Salle senior guard Abnar Muhammad drained a three to open the fourth. Liz and Sean Kavanaugh answered back with a pair of jumpers to pull within two, but Jalen Brown hit a three-pointer to force a Cadets timeout with the 44-39 lead.
Liz hit 1-of-2 free throws to inch within 44-40, but Muhammad hit a layup in response. Kavanaugh's three to pull within 47-43 with 3:05 left ultimately wasn't enough to spark a rally, as Joshua Holmes and Meteors sophomore guard DaJuan Bates both hit layups to negate Cadets guard Corey Crowder's answering layup.
Brown hit two free throws to close out the nine point victory.
"Those guys play so darn hard," Meteors coach Tom White said of Marmion. "They're just so intense; every one of their games have come down to the last three minutes of the game, where they're in the game or winning."
Both teams took a 19-19 tie into the half. Liz scored five of his 10 first half points in the second quarter, which included a deep three-pointer for a 19-16 Cadets lead with 1:22 left in the half.
But, Bates split two free throws and then converted on a layup following Marmion's third turnover of the quarter to tie it going into the half.
Sean Kavanaugh heated up in the second half for 13 of his 15 points. Kavanaugh also had six rebounds. Will Wainscott finished with seven points.
For the Meteors, Joshua Thorton pounded the glass for 10 rebounds to complement his 5 points. Muhammed had six points, while Bates had 11 points and three rebounds.
"It's execution; It's execution," Marmion coach Tony Young said on the frustrating losses. "It's discipline. It's actually being disciplined enough to guard our defensive assignments. We keep having simple breakdowns."
Young, however, knows that execution and discipline will come in time.
"It'll come as we get better," Young continued. "But, I want it to be there now. It's frustrating losing these close games right now. [A] lot of that stuff comes with repetition, it comes with time, it comes with practice."
"We've got new guys on the team; we've got guys really still trying to figure it out ... I have no issues with their effort."