advertisement

IC Catholic stops Aurora Christian

IC Catholic took away the most basic thing from a prior loss to Aurora Christian.

"We learned that first we've got to bring it," said IC guard Troy Burrows.

Hitting 11 off 13 fourth-quarter free throws and all 6 fourth-quarter field goals, IC delivered a 54-46 win over Aurora Christian on Tuesday in a Class 2A Lisle regional semifinal.

The Knights, who had lost to Aurora Christian on Jan. 27, face another familiar foe in Friday's 7 p.m. regional semifinal - top-seeded St. Edward, 3-0 against the Knights this season and a 65-39 winner over Chicago Christian in Tuesday's first semifinal.

An 11-2 IC run spanning the third and fourth quarter, including an 88-second possession to start the fourth ending with Will Lyles' backdoor basket off Burrows' assist, gave No. 3 seed IC a 35-31 lead. IC (15-13) didn't trail again.

"It was textbook basketball, not settling for an outside jump shot, which we could have done several times," said Knights coach T.J. Tyrrell.

Burrows, who led all scorers with 21 points, started the run with a pullup jumper and then an up-and-under layup for the final points of the third quarter, giving IC its first tie of the game against No. 2 Aurora Christian (20-7).

"That was a big play and I knew I needed to do something to kind of put us over the hump," Burrows said, "and I think from there the momentum started to kick off. We put them in a situation where they had to foul and then we knocked down our free throws.

"Angel (Ramirez) and Austin (Reed) stepped up, knocked down some big free throws, I had a couple myself and that kind of sealed the game."

Aurora Christian, which won 20 games for the first time since 2007, started strong with forward R.D. Lutze skirting screens for shots at the top of the key. The 18-point scorer had 13 by halftime but picked up his third foul at 4:25 of the third quarter and his fourth less than a minute later.

Lutze's foul trouble, 10 turnovers and 4 total field goals in the second and third quarters meant trouble for the Eagles, who lost to IC last year in a regional final.

"That's never going to get us a win," Lutze said. "We never got in a flow for offense. Props to them because they took us out of it, They played some good defense out there."

Reed scored 10 points for the Knights and Jordan Rowell added 7. Zach Singer scored 10 points for Aurora Christian, Juwan Sisco 8.

"I told them in the locker room, it wasn't through lack of effort that we lose," said Eagles coach Pat McNamara.

"We run that flex offense and we just weren't running very smoothly. We've had some good games running it very well, and we just didn't do it tonight."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.