ACC senior scores 28 as Chargers roll to championship

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SANDWICH -- Through the first three games of the Sandwich Tournament, Aurora Central senior Joey Guth felt that it had taken a while each night for him to feel comfortable offensively.

Of course, he still had averaged 25 points per game heading into Saturday's contest with Morris, but his approach was a bit different this time. Coming out of the locker room hitting baskets, Guth scored 17 points in the first quarter and finished the night with 28 as the Chargers took the tournament championship with a 74-49 win.

Guth, who scored 30 in Friday's 79-64 win over Streator Friday night, nailed five of his first six shots from the field -- including three 3-pointers -- and tallied 14 of ACC's first 16 points. With Steve Hollon adding five of his 14 in the period, the Chargers (4-0) raced out to a 24-14 lead after the first quarter.

"I started shooting the ball early and caught fire right away," said Guth, who canned six treys on the night and was named the tourney's MVP. "The last few games it took me a quarter or two to start feeling it, but I got it going right away, which is what we needed."

Most of Guth's jumpers came as he worked well without the ball and came off of screens to get open. The Chargers showed good ball movement and seemed quite comfortable in their offensive sets.

That allowed the Chargers to push the lead to 20 points early in the third quarter, and while Morris cut it to 12 later in the half, a Guth 3-pointer started a run that brought the lead back to a very comfortable margin.

"We shot the ball well, especially Joe, who was on fire at the beginning of the game," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "He is playing well, he got off to a quick start and the rest of the guys kind of followed him."

The Chargers entered the tournament with a few question marks after losing several players, most notably Anthony Kelley -- who has moved on to the University of Illinois-Chicago -- off of a team that won 24 games last year.

While there are still a few questions to be answered, the Chargers now know they can win games and have enough experience out of veteran players like Guth, Hollon (named to the All-Tournament team) and Kent Brauweiler to continue with the success the program has had the last couple of years.

"To get off to a quick start was good to give the guys some confidence this early in the season," Drye said. "I wasn't sure what would happen when we threw the ball up, but I think these kids are used to winning, and just because a couple of kids graduated expectations didn't change.

"They expect to win, and I think that showed. Everybody just does their job."

Brauweiler added 10 points for ACC, while Ryan Harreld came off the bench to score all nine of his points in the fourth quarter. Kjeld Torkelson paced Morris (2-2) with 21 points, while Josh DeGraaf added 13.

Yorkville 60, Sandwich 42 -- The Foxes started the tournament 0-2 but rallied back to win their next two games and finish the tournament with a 2-2 record. The host Indians finished at 0-4.

"I told the kids that it is a good sign to bounce back and get to .500 so I was pleased to see that," Yorkville coach Jerry Farber said. "We really played within ourselves the last two games."

Tavis Gibson, named to the All-Tournament team, led the way for Yorkville with a game-high 20 points, while Derek Piszczek had five 3-pointers and scored 16 points. Justin Wegener led Sandwich with 13 points while David Meyer added 12.

Wegener and Meyer were also named to the All-Tourney squad.