After senior guard Evan Stumm was held to a mere two points in the first half Wednesday night, Marmion coach Joe Piekarz wanted his team’s leading scorer to get back to the basics.
With Burlington Central playing Stumm close to the vest, Piekarz preached a bit of patience.
“They were playing so far up on him,” Piekarz said of the Rockets’ defensive approach. “In the first half, he was getting a little impatient with that. In the second half, he let things develop.
“As they got up on him, he made more of a basketball move rather than just trying to go.”
Even though his outside shot never did come around, Stumm got the host Cadets going, leading them to a 47-43 upset victory over Burlington Central in a Class 3A Marmion Regional semifinal.
Stumm led all scorers with 14 points for sixth-seeded Marmion (15-17), which advanced to play at 7 p.m. Friday in the championship game against Kaneland (24-5), a 57-44 winner over Plano.
Eight of those points for Stumm came in the fourth quarter to keep third-seeded Burlington Central (21-11) at bay. Jack Regan added 10 points off the bench and Caden Anderson had nine.
Caden West scored 11 points off the bench for Burlington Central. And while nobody from either team got rolling in the first half, including Stumm, the forced adjustment worked out well.
“I wasn’t getting anything going,” Stumm said with a shrug afterward. “The 3-ball wasn’t falling for me, and that’s what I rely on. I just used my teammates. They were giving me open looks.
“I was getting cuts and layups, and I was attacking defenders.”
Stumm is the only Cadet who saw varsity playing time during their historic sectional title run last season. He credits that experience with keeping him calm in a tense game Wednesday.
“Playing those minutes that I did as the sixth man, it did help me settle in,” Stumm said. “Of course, it’s a playoff game. You’re going to be a little nervous at the start.”
Even for the new Cadets who didn’t see the floor in last winter’s playoffs, Piekarz knows they were there for every step of that run.
“It’s such a huge advantage to have been there before and to say maybe you didn’t play but you sat in that front row and you saw what it takes to be able to keep moving on in the postseason because it’s different,” Piekarz said. “The postseason is so different than the regular season.
“They already knew that coming in. I’m really proud of them.”
Burlington Central was up by three points in the third quarter before the Cadets put together a crucial 10-0 run in taking the lead for good. Stumm produced two driving layups in that spurt.
In the fourth, every time the Rockets crept closer, Stumm had an answer, either in the form of a layup or free throws. The closest Burlington Central got in the quarter was three points.
“When we got up a couple possessions, we had a couple empty ones on our end,” Burlington Central coach Brett Porto said. “They came right back and capitalized to swing it back their way.”
In other semifinal, 6-foot-6 junior forward Freddy Hassan continued his breakout season with 28 points for Kaneland. Marmion lost 50-39 to the Knights on Dec. 9.
“Anybody you play in a regional final is really, really good, so it should be a fun game,” Piekarz said. “We’re going to have to be ready because they can play.”
One player he knows will be ready is Stumm.
“Evan is tremendous,” Piekarz said. “He’s been tremendous for us the whole season.
“Not just on the court. The leadership he’s provided, as the only guy who played any varsity basketball last year, it’s no surprise he led the team in the fourth quarter.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
