Boys basketball: Burlington Central meets Marmion for chance at Class 3A sectional title

BURLINGTON – Making school history would be an unforgettable accomplishment, but the short-term byproduct of a victory Friday may be more important than the long-term for Burlington Central.

“It means we get to be around each other and practice and continue to get better and take advantage of more opportunities,” Rockets coach Brett Porto said after his team took down Boylan 65-33 in Wednesday’s Class 3A Burlington Central Sectional boys basketball tournament semifinal.

The Rockets (29-5) face Marmion (22-11) at 7 p.m. Friday for the sectional championship. Central reached this point last season, but fell to St. Francis 37-35 in the Crystal Lake South Sectional final.

“It’s so exciting. It’s the theme of the whole season, it’s a goal of ours,” Rockets sophomore guard Caden West said. “Last season, we fell short, but this season we can get over that peak. We’re way optimistic and so happy to have this opportunity and want to take advantage of it.”

The winner advances to Monday’s Ottawa Supersectional to meet the winner of the Galesburg Sectional. Metamora (30-2) plays Richwoods (25-5) in that title game Friday.

Marmion pulled off a dramatic comeback victory Tuesday 60-58 over Crystal Lake South, which led by seven with 1:46 remaining. The Cadets are playing in their first sectional since 1977.

Central defeated Marmion 58-41 on Dec. 30 for the Plano Holiday Tournament championship, but the Cadets were missing 6-foot-3 forward Jabe Haith, one of their best players, in that game. Haith led Marmion with 23 points Tuesday.

“You can see the excitement,” Marmion coach Joe Piekarz said. “We filled our bleachers. The Marmion community is so excited for this team and what’s happening right now. That is motivating us as well.

“At this stage, any team is outstanding. Whoever we play, we are going to have our hands full. That’s sectional championship basketball.”

The stands will be filled Friday. Central athletic director Ted Juske said each school was allotted 500 tickets, which sold out online within 20 minutes. He said the gym seats about 1,300 and hoped that 200 more tickets might be available Friday.

There was a mistake when an online link was prematurely activated and tickets were sold before they were supposed to have been. Juske said those tickets were refunded and the IHSA reactivated the link and an even allotment was given to both schools.

The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Central is playing in its fourth sectional championship in five years. The Rockets advanced to this point in 2018, 2019 and again last season.

Central graduated four starters from last year’s team – Gavin Sarvis, Carson Seyller, Nick Carpenter and Zac Schmidt – all of whom played integral roles for three years.

But the lone returning starter, 6-9 Drew Scharnowski, has been a standout, averaging 23.5 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. Scharnowski also ignites the crowds with frequent dunks and is a premier rim protector on defense.

Forward Nic Gouriotis and guard Matthew Lemon took on key roles as seniors, while West and Johnson are the other starters as sophomores.

“[Scharnowski] works hard, no doubt about it. He’s not just good because of luck or anything,” Gouriotis said. “Practicing with Drew makes us better. It was like last year practicing with that group. They made us so much better.

“It’s awesome. I watched two of the sectional final games when I was younger. It’s awesome to be here now and be on a team that can make history.”

Plus, the Rockets can put themselves one win closer to a trip to the Final Four and get a few more days to practice and compete together. Scharnowski just grinned when asked about the opportunity.

“It’d be big,” he said. “It’d be big.”