Aurora Christian moves on to 1A sectional final
MARSEILLES - Taaj Davis' first quarter was symptomatic of a widespread Aurora Christian uprising Wednesday night.
The latest unbeaten boys basketball team in all of Chicagoland this season, the Eagles hit Kewanee-Wethersfield with a haymaker in the opening minutes of a Class 1A sectional final in the Ottawa Marquette sectional.
Hitting their first 7 shots from the floor - with Davis' twin 3-pointers serving as the fulcrum - Aurora Christian raced to an early double-digit lead against the Flying Geese and never looked back in a 63-45 victory.
The Eagles (25-1) will face Annawan (28-3) for a berth in the Illinois State University supersectional on Friday.
Wethersfield, which never came within single digits again after the Eagles' Dvision I recruit, Jake Wolfe, hit a turnaround baseline jumper in the opening quarter, had its season end at 24-9.
"The most important thing in basketball is getting that first run," said Wolfe, the Lipscomb recruit who scored all 10 of his points in the opening half. "We pride ourselves on getting a fast start. We're really good when we're up on people."
Davis was the principal architect of the Eagles first-quarter dominance.
Aurora Christian led 20-6 heading into the second quarter as Davis, a sophomore guard, scored half of his team-high 18 points in the first.
"We came in with a chip on our shoulders," said the southpaw Davis. "We got beat in the sectional finals last year (against Newark). We want to take (the other teams') confidence away early. (Tonight) was just coming out ready to play."
St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin called basketball "a funny game" last week.
Wethersfield senior Jacob Schwerbrock illuminated its peculiarities by scoring the first 16 points for the Flying Geese through the opening 12 minutes and 29 seconds of play.
"I don't think we have ever played a team that shut down our guards like that," said Schwerbrock, who finished with a game-high 26 points. "I had to step up tonight."
Aurora Christian coach Dan Beebe could only offer a tacit facial expression when asked if he could recall a similar occurrence to the start of a game by an opposing player.
The only true concern for Beebe in the first half was the Eagles bricking 11 of their 13 free-throw attempts.
"They're free, but they don't always go in," Beebe said.
But it was a nuisance for the Eagles' coaching staff as Jaehshon Thomas' consecutive field goals gave Aurora Christian a 47-27 lead after three quarters.
"We're typically pretty strong out of the gate," Beebe said. "That's always key for us - to get a good jump."
Will Wolfe had 13 points for Aurora Christian; Thomas finished with 12 off the bench.
Fellow reserve Zach Zavasnick added 8 for Aurora Christian.