As the Marmion huddle broke for one final time, a fan-made sign flashed directly across the Cadets’ bench.

Marmion’s plan against Burlington Central was to strike first, be the aggressor and do to the Rockets what they had done so frequently to their opponents.

Before the start of the second quarter of Wednesday night’s Class 2A Johnsburg boys basketball sectional semifinal between first-seeded Rockford Lutheran and seventh-seeded Montini Catholic, RL senior guard Blake Broege was recognized at midcourt for having scored his 1,000th career point in the first quarter.

Two standout guards, neither of whom had hit a 3-pointer the entire game, were determined to change that in the final 24 seconds.

Collin Wainscott didn’t miss much of anything Saturday night, draining 3-pointers, making 16 of 18 free throws and helping the Marmion boys basketball team end a nearly half-century drought.

Call it senior night magic if you like, but there was more to Providence Catholic’s gritty 59-58 victory over Marmion than just having the quintet of seniors starting the game to honor their four years of toil.First, credit sophomore guard Seth Chaney, whose 19 points, ability to get open and defensive leadership contributed a lot.Next, add in Kyle Lipke and Collin Moran, whose combined 22 points – and Moran knotting the game at 33 with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to get the crowd more deeply into it – helped the cause considerably.Finally, a hat tip to Zinn Amos, the senior who has started all year for the Celtics (12-15, 4-7 Catholic League White). The most valuable of his seven points were the three he contributed at game’s end, when he found himself as open as anyone all night and drained a 22-footer that came about via a broken play with four-hundredths of a second to play.“I just used my instincts, shot-faked, sidestepped and tried to get an open shot,” Amos said. “We were supposed to get a shot (in the middle), but they collapsed on it, and I was open and called for the ball.”As coach Kyle Murphy kidded, “Can’t draw that up any better, right? Zinn took the shot for us at the end, but that was a full team effort. We got stops when we needed stops, made some shots, broke their trap and got to the rim and scored.”The timing is perfect with the state tournament around the corner.“We came in knowing we were going to win the game,” Chaney said. “Playing smart, playing aggressive. At the first time out of the second half, we took a deep breath and got back to what we were doing in the first half.”Marmion (15-10, 4-7) arrived with the more impressive record, including a victory over Mount Carmel, and played with great pluck, leading for most of the first half. But the Cadets, living by the 3-pointer before the intermission, couldn’t keep up the pace after the break. They were 4-of-11 from beyond the arc in the second half.When it really mattered, Travon Roots, a 6-foot-6 powerhouse, tried to carry them, but his layup with 57 seconds to play was the last basket for the Cadets.Jabe Haith and Collins Wainscott had 14 points each for Marmion.

After sitting out the early portion of the season while recovering from a summer injury, Larkin junior guard Jakob Blakley made a triumphant return to the basketball court during last month’s Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs.

Like most point guards, Collin Wainscott likes to have the ball in his hands come crunch time.

For Marmion, the cliche of ‘next man up’ was truly their reality.

Marmion Academy suffered through one of its coldest shooting halves of the basketball season Wednesday night against Ottawa at the 59th Plano Christmas Classic.