Aurora, IL--The Wheaton Academy Warriors' post-season dreams came to an abrupt ending on Wednesday night, as the number 8 regional seeded Aurora Central Catholic pulled off an improbable upset over the number 1 seeded Warriors 41-37 at IMSA.
The Knights came out with a clear-cut strategy of making this regional semi-final game as low-scoring of a game as possible by controlling the game's slow tempo. ACC started the game with minute long possessions, then retreated to an extended zone defensively which was an unusual look for the Warriors' offensive attack.
Playing through some regional jitters, the Warriors managed to score only 8 points in the opening period, allowing ACC to stay even with them, 8-8 after the first quarter. The trend continued in the second quarter, with the Warriors managing to outscore the Knights by only one point to lead 21-20 at the half.
The team went on a critical run to start the third quarter, extending and maintaining their lead of 4-8 points up until the final few minutes. After a number of chaotic plays and uncharacteristic turnovers for the Warriors, this nail-biter of a game seemed remarkably to be within ACC's reach, even as the Warriors never surrendered their lead until the final seconds of the game.
The perfect storm continued to brew for the Knights, who had possession of the ball with under 30 seconds remaining, down 37-35. ACC point-guard #3 Andujar sank a jumpshot with a hand in his face at the top of the key which was ruled a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. After a few moments of uncertainty, it was ruled that Wheaton Academy did call their remaining timeout as the ball went through the basket and the clock was reset to 1.8 seconds. Amid the chaos and misunderstanding of the ACC bench thinking that the game was over and the Warrior players insisting that Andujar's foot was on the line and it should have been ruled a two-pointer, a technical foul was assessed to the Warriors. ACC then shot the technical free throws, inbounded the ball from half court and the game concluded.
Wednesday night's heart-crushing loss marks the end of a season for Coach Ferguson's team that has been marked by an outstanding overall record of 19-7, the 4th consecutive SCC conference championship, a Thanksgiving tournament championship, and many other notable wins.
