’Canes can’t keep up

Marian Central’s Danny Noonan (from left), Patrick Weiler, C.J. Price and Jacob Tonkin watch the final seconds of Tuesday’s sectional semifinal loss to Oswego in Hampshire. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com)

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HAMPSHIRE – The intensity, the rapid-fire scoring and the general quick play stunned Marian Central’s boys basketball team Tuesday.

It had been 33 years since the Hurricanes had played in a sectional semifinal game.

Oswego, though, is used to this kind of thing.

The Panthers, runners up in the IHSA Class 3A state finals last season, gunned their way to a 66-46 victory against the Hurricanes in a Class 3A Hampshire Sectional semifinal. Oswego advances to Friday’s championship game against the winner of today’s semifinal between Freeport and DeKalb.

Oswego used a high-octane attack that immediately put Marian on edge.

For the remainder of the game the Hurricanes tried to calm down and chip away at a deficit that proved insurmountable.

“They came out playing hard, and it wasn’t anything we weren’t prepared for,” said Marian junior point guard Jake Everly, who scored a team-high 13 points. “It’s just really tough to come back on a team like that.”

Defeat tends to make teams hungry for more, and Oswego (23-6) is trying for another state finals appearance and the title it fell short of claiming last year.

The Hurricanes are ready for November and the start of a new season.

“I don’t think we ever gave up, and I think we gave it all we had,” Marian coach Curtis Price said. “We were shocked by their intensity, but it was good for us to see what it takes to get to the next level. It’s a different ballgame.”

Oswego jumped to a 21-11 lead by the end of the first quarter and to a 46-22 lead at halftime.
Senior forward Andrew Ziemnik drained two three-pointers in the second quarter and went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, and sophomore guard Ryan West hit back-to-back threes to help stake Oswego to its commanding lead.

Marian (20-10) outscored the Panthers, 24-20, in the second half. Everly tried to carry the team through the third quarter, swiping the ball and converting a layup at the two-minute mark to make it 50-28. His long jumper at the 1:32 mark made it 52-30.

Senior guard Dave Luczak was fouled attempting a half-court shot at the third-quarter buzzer and made two of his three free throws to make the score 52-32 at the start of the fourth.
As much as the loss – especially by the large margin – hurt, the ’Canes know their season was successful.

Marian won the program’s first regional title since 1977 last week, and Tuesday’s loss only will make next season’s returners determined to get over the next hurdle.

“We haven’t done this or been here in 33 years, so to get here definitely gave us confidence,” junior forward C.J. Price said. “We did it this year, and we can do it next year. We have good players coming back, we have good sophomores coming up, and we’ll have higher expectations.

“No one expected us to do anything, and we came out this season and showed them what we could do.”

Price scored nine points, and senior forward Jacob Tonkin scored seven.