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Sycamore hangs on to oust Aurora Central Catholic

Unfortunately for Aurora Central Catholic, the Chargers were as unlucky in the final seconds as both teams were for the opening four-plus minutes of Wednesday's semifinal in the Class 3A Kaneland boys basketball regional.

The Charger faithful groaned with multiple misses and moaned over the lack of calls as three ACC tries for a game-winning bucket failed to complete what would have been a phenomenal comeback against Sycamore.

The No. 4-seed Spartans (15-12) dodged defeat as their 39-38 advantage became the final score over the No. 5 seed Chargers. The triumph enables Sycamore to hope the third time will be the charm against top seed Kaneland in Friday's 7 p.m. title game. The regional host Knights claimed 68-45 and 50-33 regular-season victories.

The two teams combined for 12 misses and 4 turnovers before Sycamore's Ty Sulaver got the game's first basket at 4:19. Aurora Central (15-12) owned a 4-2 lead off Brett Czerak's jumper with 2:47 left in the first quarter. The Spartans got consecutive 3-pointers from Jack Mizgalski to end the quarter up 8-4 before Brett Bemis sparked the continuation of a 15-0 surge that led to a 17-4 advantage 4:20 prior to halftime.

"Obviously I'm so proud of the way we fought to the end," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "It says so much about the character of this group who had every reason to quit. On a night like this when shots don't drop, you can't seem to catch a break, the best you can hope for is a shot at the end and we had that."

Sycamore's 20-12 intermission edge led to a 30-22 margin heading into the fourth quarter. Kyle Czerak found brother Brett open in the right corner for a 3-pointer to start the final eight minutes and Jake Bush used another assist for a left baseline bank shot to get the Chargers within 30-27 before Mizgalski and Tim Zahm nailed back-to-back 3-pointers.

Brett Czerak, ACC's scoring leader in both soccer and basketball, hit the second of 5 field goals in the fourth quarter just prior to a Tyler Mavues free throw for Sycamore made it 37-29 with 3:32 still to be played.

"I didn't want this season to end and I just wanted to do anything I could, score, rebound, steal a pass, whatever to keep it going," Brett Czerak said.

He added two more baskets before Sycamore got its final bucket with 1:21 left when Mizgalski made both ends of a one-and-one.

"Those were huge because they were gaining momentum and we got a little rattled," admitted Mizgalski, who led the Spartans with 14 points. "It feels great to get the win and to get it for our seniors."

However that outcome was in doubt after Brett Czerak hit a left corner 3-pointer and the Chargers followed an unforced Sycamore turnover with pullup jumper from the junior 1,000-point plus scorer.

Spartan coach Andrew Stacy got a timeout call granted just prior to a turnover which had the ACC fans in full throat. If not for the Charger fans' continuous spirit, the Knights' home court would have resembled a quiet dungeon with a lack of Sycamore student support.

A travel call did give ACC the ball with 24.7 seconds and a Nick Faltz missed 3 was saved only momentarily by Sycamore only to have the pass go out of bounds. Brett Czerak just missed adding to his game-high 20 points and Faltz was knocked off balance in his attempted rebound putback. An ACC foul put Bemis at the line for a one-and-bonus with eight-tenths of a second, but the Chargers' full court heave off a miss was well short.

In addition to Mizgalzski's four 3-pointers and 2-for-2 free throws, Sycamore had 7 points from Zahm and 6 from Bemis. For ACC, Brett Czerak's 20 was backed up by 6 from Evan Schuetz.

"It was a rough game, a lot of bumping going on," Faltz said. "That's part of basketball. The comeback and effort was a testament to the great group of guys who had a special year. Just wish it would have continued."

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