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Frenzied crowd, Aurora Central fail to rattle Marmion

If a boys basketball game between Marmion and Aurora Central Catholic doesn't pump you up, Marmion senior center Evan Pickard suggested, you just can't get pumped up.

Capping a Saturday matinee that offered a double-overtime sophomore game amid fire code-violation atmosphere equaling any varsity contest, visiting Marmion maintained the mojo in a 67-58 victory over its nonconference Aurora rival.

"I love it. I think it's great. It's great for basketball, it's great for high school sports," said Marmion coach and 1982 graduate Joe Currie, formerly a longtime program assistant making his debut as head man in the heated rivalry.

"It was what I expected it to be for the first game," Currie said, "and hats off to my kids."

Along with the typical hustle plays by Jordan Glasgow, Marmion (16-11) got an early pair of 3-pointers by Hunter Weber that Aurora Central Catholic coach Nathan Drye said affected the entire game.

"We don't want to play from behind," Drye said. "We had to play from behind the whole game because we didn't guard the 3-point line. Our inability to cover the 3-point line early hurt us for the whole game."

It also stretched the Chargers' 2-3 zone to where Marmion took advantage inside. Placing first Jake Esp then Glasgow at soft spots in the high post for a shot or pass to cutters on the baseline, Marmion made hay with height.

"We knew we needed to finish low if we're going to win the game," Pickard said.

Only the Chargers' 6-foot-4 Mario May had the height and heft to deal with the indomitable Glasgow, the 6-5 Esp, 6-5 Matt Fletcher and 6-6 Pickard, who paced a 36-22 rebounding edge and 29-of-56 shooting.

"They tried to stretch out our zone and then they have Jordan and Jake, they can both get to the basket really easily, so we have to step out and it just stretches us out, which we don't like to be," May said.

Mixing perimeter shots with drives and layups off his 3 steals, Glasgow led Marmion with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Pickard scored 18 on 8-of-10 field goal shooting while Esp tallied 11 points, 13 rebounds.

Aurora Central Catholic (11-14) shot 9 of 31 from the 3-point arc, not enough against a taller team, and fell into a familiar pattern - closing gaps only to see Marmion extend them.

Trailing 21-13 after one quarter, the Chargers moved within 28-26 late in the second quarter. Glasgow hit a jumper and Josh Ruddy made a 3 to lift the Cadets.

Early in the third quarter ACC's Evan Schuetz scored a quick 5 points to cut the deficit to 37-34. Currie called timeout - "Just be patient" was his message - and Glasgow and Pickard's inside-out routine pushed it back to 48-36.

Brett Czerak fueled Aurora Central's last gasp. The 23-point scorer canned a 3 that got the Chargers within 59-53 with 2:34 to play. Again Pickard, Glasgow and sophomore Myles Schoonover, off a Glasgow dish, bumped it back to 65-55 with 1:25 remaining.

"It's nice," said Glasgow, unfazed by the dueling student cheering sections. "Just had an emotional win after beating St. Francis earlier this week. We just come back and we get another great win against a rival."

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