Late-game heroics elude Marian Central this time

WOODSTOCK – Two 3-pointers by Adam Wrzos in the final 43 seconds put Marian Central in position to play overtime for the second game in a row Tuesday night.

Two free throws by Chicago Christian in the last six seconds ended that possibility, however.

Which was too bad for the Hurricanes, who are playing their best basketball of the season, despite their 66-62 loss in a Chicagoland Christian Conference game that saw the hosts almost erase an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

“I knew we could have beat that team,” Marian senior guard Logan Brandt said. “We just had a lot of quality shots that we missed.”

Marian (7-14, 0-4 CCC) was coming off an 85-82 win in OT over IMSA on Saturday. Brandt fed Cayden Leonard for a buzzer beater, his third 3-pointer down the stretch of the extra session, as the Hurricanes won for the sixth time in their past 11 games after starting the season 1-8.

Against Chicago Christian (8-6, 3-1), which won its eighth straight, Marian got a double-double from senior forward Finn Pivnicka (23 points, 12 rebounds) and led 41-37 after Pivnicka’s two free throws with 4:41 left in the third quarter. But the Knights scored the next 14 points, as they routinely beat the Hurricanes down the court in transition and got to the foul line, and they never relinquished the lead.

“We played as well as we could,” Hurricanes first-year coach Rick Peterson said. “This is Year 1 [of a rebuild]. We’re just not used to being in that situation, close games.”

When backup guard Malachi Krestel (14 points) hit his third 3 with 6:19 left in the fourth, the Knights were up 56-45.

“They took it to us,” Peterson said. “We just got too far down.”

Pivnicka, who’s averaging about 21 points per game, hit a couple of baseline shots, and Leonard made his third 3-pointer to rally the Hurricanes. Wrzos’s second 3 of the fourth and third of the game got Marian within 64-62 with eight seconds on the clock.

Knights sophomore guard Garrett Murphy (team-high 19 points) and senior forward Eddie VanDellen (four points, 12 rebounds) split two free throws each to stave off the home team.

“I think our team has developed very well,” said Brandt, who scored four of his eight points in the fourth, after scoring 18 against IMSA and 22 in a loss to St. Edward on Friday. “We’re playing as a team. Obviously tonight didn’t go as we would have liked, but I think we’ll be a tough team in the regional.”

Wrzos and Leonard finished with 11 and nine points, respectively, for Marian, which will host a Class 2A regional. The Hurricanes' play in the past month has put them in position to better last season’s nine wins, and they are aware of it.

When Marian plays at Timothy Christian on Friday in CCC action, it will be the Hurricanes' fifth game in eight days. So a more consistent effort is crucial for a team seeking more improvement in order to reach its goals.

“We’re playing better now,” Peterson said. “It’s a process. The whole idea of this season is to get more wins than last season and win a regional game, because our regional is here. We’re on track to do that.”