Marian Central followed a dud late Wednesday night with perhaps the most beautiful and efficient basketball it has played this season. The Hurricanes hit 6 of their first 7 shots, and made 18 of 25 field goals in the first half to subdue Jacobs, 67-52, in their Pool I game at the Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic Thursday.

There was just cause for concern on St. Viator’s bench after the first quarter against Marian Central. The Hurricanes’ 6-foot-5 sophomore Christian Bentancur had scored 10 points and looked like a huge problem for the Lions, who have no player taller than 6-2. But the game quickly took a turn in the Lions’ favor in the second quarter when they turned up their man-to-man defensive pressure and 6-2 guard Dillon Schmidt caught fire. Marian turned the ball over 24 times in the final three quarters and Schmidt poured in a career-high 34 points for a 68-51 Lions’ victory in an East Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball game Friday night at Landers Pavilion in Woodstock.