Indian Creek denies Aurora Christian tournament title
Drew Gaston was a one-man wrecking crew for Indian Creek at the close of the first half Saturday night.
In the championship game of the Burney Wilkie Classic, the Aurora Christian eight-team boys basketball tournament, Gaston completed a masterful first-half performance with 20 of his game-high 27 points in the opening two quarters.
The Indian Creek guard was directly responsible for Aurora Christian surrendering a 9-point first-quarter lead as the Timberwolves never trailed nor were they tied after the intermission in securing a 62-54 victory.
"We had everyone spaced out so I could do what I needed to do," said Gaston, who repeatedly beat the Eagles' defense off the dribble for slashing scores. "After we got focused, we came out and did the job."
One of the central storylines of the game was foul issues for both teams.
Gaston and senior post Cooper Larsen accounted for 34 of the Timberwolves' 36 points in the first half.
Aurora Christian (3-1) was seemingly in position to make serious headway, only to have star guard Taaj Davis follow Cooper to the opposite bench with a third first-half foul.
Davis, coming off a career-high 34-point effort versus St. Edward on Friday, still managed to score a team-best 23 points.
Davis picked up his fourth foul on a charging violation with 71 seconds to play in the third quarter; the senior played the last nine minutes, 11 seconds without any margin for error.
Aurora Christian could never come closer than 4 points in the second half as Indian Creek improved to 5-0 on the season.
"It's extremely tough that I have to lead this team in all facets (while in foul trouble)," Davis said. "It was their Super Bowl. We have to deal with this situation on a regular basis. We wanted to win the tournament, but our main goal is a state championship."
Karsen Olsen and Daniel Walker added 14 and 11 points for the Eagles.
In the third-place game, Aurora Central Catholic senior Donovan Grunloh scored 25 points to lead the Chargers past St. Edward 64-54.
JP McGuire had a game-high 26 points for the Green Wave.