Boys basketball: Marmion overcomes tough shooting night, tops L-P at Plano Christmas Classic

PLANO – The Marmion Academy Cadets shot just 36.2%, were outrebounded 38-27 and didn’t have a player score in double digits during Thursday night’s Plano Christmas Classic quarterfinal against La Salle-Peru.

The Cadets were also in control pretty much the entire way.

Sixth-seeded Marmion Academy defeated the third-seeded Cavaliers 46-42, leading from late in the opening quarter on to advance to Friday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the late-night matchup between Burlington Central and host Plano.

“We defended really well as a team tonight,” Marmion coach Joe Piekarz said. “We know some of the things La Salle can do well … and I thought we had an outstanding team effort on the defensive end.

“You have to have that on nights you’re not shooting well.”

La Salle-Peru (11-4) drops into the Christmas Classic’s fifth-place bracket, where it will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

“We had plenty of open shots,” said L-P coach John Senica, whose Cavs shot only 28.6% from the field to negate their 11-rebound advantage. “It’s just one of those nights for us, the ball wasn’t going to go in the hoop.”

Seth Adams’ 17-point, three-assist game along with Josh Senica’s 12-point, eight-rebound, two-block performance led the Cavaliers (11-4).

For Marmion (7-7), Christian Stewart and Evan Stumm with nine points apiece led the scoresheet. Stumm also added team-highs in assists (five) and rebounds (eight).

“Got to give it to La Salle-Peru, really solid team with solid players,” Stumm said. “Coach drew up a really solid game plan, though. It was a team win. We kept moving the ball, nobody was playing selfish.

“Everyone on the team is just really unselfish and fun to play with, and it’s a good system that coach has got us in. We’re meshing well together.”

Caden Anderson contributed eight points, with Matthew Stewart and Logan Hubble scoring seven apiece for the Cadets.

Marmion broke an 8-all tie by closing the first quarter with a 6-0 run, Anderson providing the last half of those points with a running 3-pointer off a set inbounds play at the buzzer.

It was a lot of those little momentum-building – or momentum-halting – plays that allowed Marmion to build its lead and keep it. That proved especially true when La Salle-Peru fought all the way back to within two points by the close of the third quarter after trailing by as many as 12 earlier in the period. Josh Senica drained a pair of 3s, Nicholas Olivero converted a Senica assist into a bucket, and Brendan Boudreau knocked down a free throw that cut the Cavaliers’ deficit to 34-32 heading to the fourth.

“I told the kids in a timeout [down 30-18 in the third], ‘By the end of this quarter, we’re going to tie it or take the lead,’ because that’s how much I believe in them,” John Senica said. " ‘You guys are going to do what you have to do to get to that point,’ and they did.

“If we could’ve just gotten any kind of momentum. …”

Instead, in what would be a recurring theme throughout the fourth, the Cadets immediately halted the Cavs’ run. Marmion retook momentum with a Stumm bucket 11 seconds into the fourth quarter followed by a pair of backbreaking Christian Stewart 3-pointers.

“We made the key shots when we needed the key shots,” Piekarz said. “Christian Stewart in the fourth, [L-P] I think was making a run on both 3s he made, and he knocked those down from the corner with 100 percent confidence.”

An Adams 3 drew L-P within five points, at 45-40, with 19 seconds remaining. A Christian Stewart free throw with 11.9 left extended the lead to six, large enough to make Olivero’s last-second score moot and propel the Cadets into Plano’s final four.