It was an early “prove yourself” moment in the young varsity career of Ben Piekarz.

With Marmion trailing Batavia by three points and less than a minute remaining, the junior was subbed onto the court with one goal in mind – knocking down a 3-pointer to tie the game up.

“I was excited to come in,” Piekarz said. “That was a really solid play that was drawn up for me.”

As the play went along, Piekarz finally got the ball at the top of the key and quickly got a shot off.

Not only did he tie it up with the shot, but he also drew the foul to give Marmion the lead.

“That was the greatest feeling ever,” Piekarz said. “It was just amazing, I don’t think I’ve had a better feeling.”

Piekarz’s 4-point play gave the Cadets the lead, which they wouldn’t let go of the rest of the way to secure a 55-53 victory over the Bulldogs in the 50th annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic.

“We subbed him in specifically for that play and he was ready for the moment,” Cadets coach Joe Piekarz said. “He knocked it down, and to get the foul and drain the free throw too just shows the hard work he’s put in to get ready for this moment.”

The Cadets (1-1) spent the majority of the second half chasing the lead after entering halftime down 34-28. And still trailing by six with about three minute remaining, senior Ali Tharwani knocked down a 3-pointer to spark the comeback.

“I was wide open and I got hit with the ball and just let it go,” Tharwani said. “We had a tough loss in the season opener, and we were all ready for this game and had a good feeling heading into it.

Tharwani finished with a game-high 19 points, nine of which came in the final quarter. Senior Joey Kramer had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in the contest.

The Bulldogs (1-1) had three different chances to either get in front or tie the game after falling behind. But the Cadets’ defense stood strong the entire way, only allowing one shot on net while also not sending a player to the charity stripe.

“I was just so impressed with the composure this team had,” Joe Piekarz said. “We just anchored up and played good defense. Everybody did their part out there.”

It was a stark change of pace from the second quarter of play for the Bulldogs, who went on a 14-0 midway through the quarter to take a lead that they wouldn’t give up until Piekarz’s shot.

“The kids play hard and they executed, but it was disappointing that we lost,” said Batavia assistant coach Lamar Justice, who was sitting in for head coach Jim Nazos while he serves a two-game suspension for playing an illegal transfer last season. “We had a couple of runs and went up, but also had a few plays that we wish we could get back on the defensive end of the floor. But we’re going to be in good shape.”

A lot of that change of pace came from the shooting from the 3-point line. After going 6 of 18 from beyond the arc in the first half, Batavia went just 1 of 7 in the second half.

“We’ve got kids on the team who if their feet are set, we want them to take the shot,” Lamar Justice said. “Marmion was hitting their 3s as well, but we just had guys that normally knock those down that just weren’t hitting out there.”

Senior Xavier Justice led the scoring for the Bulldogs with 15 points. Junior Dane Farrar and senior Evan Blankenship had 12 points, while senior Joe Reid also got to double-digits with 10 points.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors in the rotation and a lot of guys that have been playing together for a long time,” Lamar Justice said. “They trust each other as it relates to taking the ball to the basket and scoring. We’re a very unselfish team and we don’t care who scores as long as we come out with a win.”