As the clock counted down to the conclusion of last Friday’s championship game at the Centralia Holiday Tournament, Gene Nolan was overcome by thoughts of his previous 17 teams that were not able to accomplish what this one did.
His Marist players celebrated their 51-47 win against Belleville West for a little bit, then they had some thoughts of their own.
“Everybody was super tired,” junior guard Morgan Taylor said. “Once we got on the bus, everybody fell asleep right away.”
Four wins in four days in a gym four hours away will tire a team, but the No. 16 RedHawks finished their whirlwind week as one of the area’s biggest winners. Marist won its first Centralia title in 25 years and streaked into the new year with a sterling 16-0 record.
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“So far it’s been a great season,” junior guard Maurice Commander said. “We’re still looking at bigger things ahead of us, but we got a sense that we can play with anybody in the state.”
Commander and Taylor have proven to be a top-level backcourt on both sides of the ball, as well as providing leadership for a team with only two seniors on its roster. Taylor averages 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, with Commander adding 12.5 points, 4.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds.
“They’ve been terrific,” Nolan said. “They’re juniors but they were on the varsity last year. They’re responsible for not only what they do, but they’re accountable for what the others around them are doing. They’ve done a great job stepping into that role.”
While their backcourt provides the RedHawks’ scoring spark, the rest of the team — such as starting forwards Justin Brown, David Daniels and Bobby Hawkinson — helps with the areas Nolan identifies as his team’s identity. Defense and rebounding have pulled Marist through several games when its offense has struggled, including in the Centralia semifinals against Champaign Central.
Down 16 in the third quarter and 12 to begin the fourth, the RedHawks focused on getting stops and crashing the boards. The result was a 50-49 win against star Tim Finke and the Maroons.
“That was our first time ever being down like that,” Commander said. “It showed that we have resiliency to be able to come back and still win the game. We have a lot of hard tests still this season, and that game showed me we can get through a big test.”
Marist is just one of the East Suburban Catholic teams that come into 2017 red-hot. Benet finished second at Pontiac, as did Notre Dame at Wheeling and St. Patrick at York, while Marian Central finished third at Hinsdale Central and Joliet Catholic won the East Aurora title.
The RedHawks still have to play all five of those schools, as well as South Side nonconference rivals Brother Rice and St. Rita.
“Our confidence is really high right now from all the winning,” Taylor said. “But we know a lot of teams in our conference are winning a lot too, so there should be a lot of great games coming up.”
Marist hasn’t won its conference since 1997, and its last regional title came in 2012, one of four it has won under Nolan. Last season’s 21-7 team was upset in a regional semifinal by a St. Rita team that finished 13-19.
Marist fans hope this squad’s future is more reminiscent of the ones from 2004 and 2005 that combined to go 50-9 while winning regionals each year.
“The rebounding and team chemistry are similar, but we’ve got a long way to go to be as good as those teams,” Nolan said. “I think our kids are willing to give it a shot to try to get there though.”
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Chicagoland unbeatens
16-0: Marist
13-0: Fremd
13-0: Geneva
12-0: Jacobs
11-0: Simeon
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10-0: Bolingbrook