Boys basketball: Zach Marini, Yorkville Christian catch fire after cold start, roll past Hiawatha

YORKVILLE – Zach Marini could reference the law of averages and his own personal track record in shaking off a frigid start shooting Friday.

So he kept firing.

Yorkville Christian’s 6-foot junior guard missed his first five 3-point attempts, and his team misfired on its first eight collectively. It contributed to a sluggish quarter-plus against visiting Hiawatha.

But the Mustangs eventually caught fire. Marini hit five of Yorkville Christian’s seven 3-pointers in the third quarter, and hit eight 3s to score 26 points. Jayden Riley scored 27, and the host Mustangs eventually won going away 84-48.

“Just trying to get my confidence up – keep shooting,” said Marini, 8-for-16 from 3. “Usually when you make the first one, your confidence increases. After we saw that first one go in we got the confidence to keep shooting.”

If it’s one thing Marini and fellow junior guard Brady Sovern do, it’s shoot the ball. The two came into Friday with a combined 94 makes from beyond the arc over 18 games.

Yorkville Christian coach Aaron Sovern said his team’s goal is to attempt 30-40 3-point shots a game, and the Mustangs (7-12) were 14-for-41 from beyond the arc Friday. After missing their first eight of the game, the Mustangs made their first four of the third quarter to blow open a 40-22 halftime lead.

“Zach shot it well in the third quarter,” coach Sovern said. “We get shots up, that’s what we do, we get a lot of shots up, but we’ve been talking about getting quality shots. Our goal is to get up 30-40 3s a game, but we didn’t shoot it well. We’re trying to get these guys to understand that defense should create your offense. Right now if we’re in an offensive funk we take it to the defensive side. That’s part of being young.”

The Mustangs are that.

A roster with no seniors starters two freshmen – Tray Alford, who had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Jordan Purvis. Riley, a transfer from Oswego, has provided a tremendous talent infusion, averaging over 23 points per game on the season after being one of Oswego’s top subs as a freshman.

Riley complements Marini and Sovern well with a smooth midrange game that he showcased Friday with 11 of his 27 points in the second quarter. Riley shot 12-for-14 from inside the arc, missing his only four 3-point attempts.

“I wasn’t the best shooter but I always felt like I could get downhill,” Riley said. “That midrange shot is the easiest thing because I wouldn’t be able to get all the way to the basket because I’m on the smaller side.”

“If we keep progressing I like where we are headed. We’re just so inexperienced,” Sovern said. “We look at this as a two-year window with this group. It’s getting Jayden to understand what he has to do on a nightly basis which he didn’t have to do at Oswego. Now he’s getting thrust in the spotlight.”

Lucas Norvell had 13 points and seven rebounds and Blake Weigartz 12 points for Hiawatha (6-13). The Hawks were within 11-8 after a quarter, and had it tied 16-16 with 4:57 left in the second quarter. But a Riley jumper and Sovern 3-pointer triggered a 17-2 Yorkville Christian run.

As the Mustangs made shots, it also allowed them to pressure, forcing seven second-quarter turnovers before the shooting caught up.

“That second half, I’m pretty sure they made 10 straight shots – not much we could do there,” first-year Hiawatha coach Matthew Montavon said. “There’s just the little things we have to figure out, which we will. I didn’t have the summer with them, so we’re behind. Being a first-year head coach we’re going to have ups and downs.”

Norvell, when he got the ball, had his way down low with a Yorkville Christian team whose tallest player is the 6-foot-2 Riley. Noah Aguado, a 6-6 junior, had a double-double in his only game of the season for the Mustangs.

“Sometimes we don’t get it down low enough,” Montavon said. “When we got it to Norvell he just dominated low, same with 13 [Cameron Emerich]. But growing pains.”

Yorkville Christian knows about that playing a tough schedule that continues Saturday against Bosco Prep in Hammond, Ind.

“It’s been tough competition. It’s just a process,” Marini said. “We just have to keep building and teaching the freshmen to play at the varsity level.”