Marian just misses 100

Marian Central's Ryan Radecki puts up a shot over Woodstock North's Sam Schweder during the first half of Tuesday's regional semifinal gamel at Woodstock North. Marian won, 99-43. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com)

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WOODSTOCK – Little went wrong for Marian Central’s boys basketball team Tuesday night.

Had the Hurricanes not fallen one point short of scoring 100, the evening would have been perfect.

Marian earned the program’s first postseason victory in at least four seasons, beating Woodstock North, 99-43, in an IHSA Class 3A Woodstock North Regional semifinal to take the first step toward winning the program’s first regional title since 1977.

The top-seeded ’Canes will take on No. 3 Prairie Ridge – winners against No. 2 Crystal Lake Central in Tuesday’s other semifinal – at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Marian (19-9 overall) emptied its bench during the rout but never missed a beat and forced the fifth-seeded Thunder into 34 turnovers.

The ’Canes final three shots in the last minute of the game lipped out to stop them short of the 100-point mark.

“We don’t get to do that very often, so it was a lot of fun,” said senior guard Danny Noonan, who along with teammate Jacob Tonkin scored 17 points.

“Right now all we’re focused on is winning a regional title. We’re working really hard for it. Every day in practice we’re reminded that it’s been so long, we see that banner from 1977 in the gym and want to add another one.”

Marian wasted little time showing the Thunder (2-26) that it meant business. The ’Canes leapt to a 13-point advantage, 24-9, at the end of the first quarter and led, 50-22, at halftime.

Junior forward Ben Krol finished with 11 points, senior guard Patrick Weiler added 10 and junior guard Cody Welch scored 12 points off the bench for the ’Canes.

“I was only concerned with our execution,” Marian coach Curtis Price said. “This is the playoffs. You lose a game, you go home, and if you win, you get to play again. It’s important to execute.”

Woodstock North coach Joe Conroy was pleased with his team’s development through the program’s first varsity season and was glad to have his players face a difficult opponent in Marian.

“I saw a sophomore team at the beginning of the season, then a JV team in the middle of the season, then I saw them develop into a good varsity team by the end of the year,” Conroy said. “ ... These kids can’t ever forget about tonight. This game is what will have to drive us to get better.”

Sophomore forward Trey Grover led Woodstock North with 10 points.