Marmion junior guard Ben Piekarz didn’t realize the impact of his first shot attempt in Friday’s road game against IC Catholic Prep.

After the Cadets stormed to a 12-point lead in the early minutes of the second quarter, the Knights fought back with 11 consecutive points.

But Piekarz calmly drilled a 3-pointer, igniting a game-turning 22-0 run to spark the Cadets to a 67-45 win over the Knights in Chicago Catholic White action.

The Cadets (14-9, 5-2) are playing quality basketball late in the regular season, extending their winning streak to four in a row.

Piekarz, a first-year starter, had one of his best varsity shooting games of his career, finishing with two 3-pointers for 16 points – all in the final three quarters. Marmion’s Joey Kramer, a junior guard, buried all three of his 3s in the first two quarters to end with a team-high 17 points.

“I started the game and didn’t get any shots, but when I got the ball and had confidence on my first shot of the game,” Ben Piekarz said.

Kramer drilled two early second-quarter 3s to push the lead to 19-12, helping the Cadets spread the floor with his shooting to cause fits for the Knights.

“I was trying to come through for the team and got on a little bit of a hot streak and tried to step up and help the team out with some big shots,” Kramer said. “We tried to get on a run to take control. We have good chemistry and have a lot of juniors. We shot the ball and had good passes that helped us get on that (big) run.”

Marmion coach Joe Piekarz said his players answered every run by the Knights, noting his team shot the ball well and played tight defense.

“I thought we played well as a team and did a nice job of putting some pressure on them and trying to get some easy baskets,” Piekarz said. “(IC Catholic) is a well-coached team and we knew they play hard and would make a comeback, but we responded to their runs.

“Ben did a nice job of providing offense in spurts tonight. Joey is consistent. We have all juniors. Joey did a tremendous job and played solid.”

Ben Piekarz, who scored 15 points against Bartlett early in the season, did more than just start the run. He scored five straight points to close out the outburst, highlighted by a 3-pointer to push the lead to 41-18 before IC Catholic’s Gael Mendoza (13 points) scored on a lay-in with 5:44 left in the third quarter.

“We got a good run in the game and they almost came back with their press, but we ran the floor well,” Ben Piekarz said. “It’s been awesome starting and been everything I wished for since I was a little kid watching varsity game. This was probably my best shooting game all year. My teammates worked hard and found every open guy.”

The Knights (14-10, 3-3) made a valiant effort toward a comeback despite missing two starters, chopping down the large deficit to 52-38 in the fourth quarter but the Cadets had too much firepower and depth. Noah Valadez (eight points) countered with a corner 3-pointer to cut the margin to 55-42 with 2:55, but the Cadets pulled away by hitting free throws down the stretch.

“They went on a run in the second quarter after we got within four, so it took a little wind out of our sails,” IC Catholic coach TJ Tyrrell said. “We didn’t respond well in the third, but I really loved the effort and the fight our guys gave in the fourth being down so much. They fought.”