Sophomores shine in Aurora Christian’s win over St. Edward

With four sophomores in the starting lineup, the future is bright for Aurora Christian.

The future is now for the Eagles.

Propelled by a stifling defense, Aurora Christian defeated St. Edward 48-31 in a Chicagoland Christian Conference contest in Elgin Tuesday night.

"Our defense was strong," said Eagles coach Dan Beebe. "We made it hard for them to get any good shots. We had relentless ball pressure the entire night.“

St. Edward could only connect on 9 of 35 shots for 25% and were 4 of 15 from 3-point range for 26%.

"They are a very physical team and they took us out of everything we like to do on offense," said Green Wave coach Andy Zielinski. "They are a very talented team."

With Aurora Christian (16-5, 5-2) leading 20-12 at halftime, sophomore sharpshooter Marshawn Cocroft canned three 3-pointers to extend the Eagles’ lead to 29-12 with 5:11 left in the quarter.

"We struggled with our shooting in the first half," said Beebe. "Marshawn really hit some big shots to start the second half."

The Wave's (8-15, 2-6) first points of the second half came on a 3-pointer by Zach Sauceda with 4:08 remaining in the third to make the score 29-15.

The Eagles’ biggest advantage was 44-23 after a 3 from Jalen Carter with 1:22 remaining.

Cocroft, with four 3's and 14 points in the second half, led the Eagles with 19 points.

"My teammates did a good job of feeding me the 3's in the second half," said Cocroft. "I was really feeling it."

Cam Morel, the lone senior in the starting lineup, added 9 points with 6 rebounds.

"We have a very young team but we have great team chemistry," said Morel. "We really stepped up in the second half. Our goal is to win a state championship (1A)."

Asa Johnson added 9 points for the winners and Carter scored 7 with 5 assists.

Matthew Morrice paced the Wave with 13, nine in the fourth quarter, while Kaden Dawson scored 10 with 8 rebounds and 3 assists.