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Aurora Central Catholic upsets Glenbard South

March isn't madness for Aurora Central Catholic. It's the product of preparation.

Three weeks ago the Chargers were 9-13. On Friday ACC won its third regional title in five seasons, upending higher-seeded Glenbard South 69-62 at the Class 3A IMSA regional in Aurora.

"Everything that we do during the season is about getting better and getting ready for this moment," said ACC coach Nathan Drye. "So we were ready for this moment and we played great at this moment."

The regional's No. 4 seed, ACC (15-14) advances to Tuesday's Rochelle sectional semifinal against Marengo, which beat Woodstock 62-48.

"We always just talk about, we want to be our best in March," said the Chargers' only senior, 6-foot-4 Mario May, graced with "MVP" chants by ACC's student section. "Sure, we want to have a good regular season but people remember these games, and we try to play for trophy games."

IMSA No. 3 seed Glenbard South (16-13) went 2-0 against ACC in the Metro Suburban West. The adage about beating a team three times proved correct.

"They hit some big shots all night long," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. "Their shooters were able to knock down some big 3s and kept us on our heels a little bit."

Both teams did in a first half of 13 lead changes and 10 ties, ACC in front 32-31. Glenbard South senior guard Tyler Scott scored 13 of his 17 points in the first quarter, operating at the top of Drye's traditional 2-3 zone. The weight of the zone collapsed on 6-5 Raiders junior Billy Bair, who scored 2 first-half points, 8 total.

"We thought he was the one guy who could beat us so we focused on taking him out and our kids executed the game plan better than I've probably ever seen us execute a game plan," Drye said.

Scott said: "We talked about the soft spots in the zone but they shut it down and it was hard to get in there. It's hard to get Bill the ball when there's three guys on him."

Scott and Bair combined for a drive-and-dish bucket that gave the Raiders a 35-33 lead early in the third quarter. ACC's Mac Cowen hit two 3s to bookend a May three-point play and Evan Schuetz hit 2 free throws for a 43-37 lead the Chargers would not relinquish. "Three pointers have just been a part of our game all year long and today we were all knocking them down," said Cowen, who made 4 while brothers Brett and Kyle Czerak each made 2.

Trailing 50-43 after three quarters, Glenbard South rallied within 61-60 with 1:32 to play on a flurry by Tim Marks.

Brett Czerak extended the lead to 64-60, and Scott whipped a long pass to Marks all alone for a lay in. He was alone because an apparent whistle caused confusion. After referee discussion Marks' basket was negated. Taking issue with that, Glenbard South drew a technical foul.

"The official told me that there was a whistle from their fan section," Hardtke said. "That was the call."

ACC scored only 1 point from the exchange but led 67-60 on 2 free throws by Schuetz, who equaled Marks' 18 points for game honors. May scored 15 and Cowen 12. "Both teams played hard, it was back and forth, everything you want out of that game," Hardtke said. "You've got to tip your hat to them and I'm proud of the way that my guys played as well."

ACC ended its scoring when May rebounded a Raiders miss and outletted to Schuetz, who channeled his brother Phil from the Chargers' 2012 regional champ, and slammed it home.

"He goes up a lot in practice and doesn't get it so I was just really hoping he'd get it down," said May, a cutdown net draped around his neck. "He was able to, it was awesome."

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