Marcos Gonzales spent nearly all of Brother Rice’s sectional games last season watching from the bench, his reserve role being limited as the Crusaders stuck with a regular postseason rotation.
A year later, Gonzales is a first team all-conference selection by the Catholic League who’s capable of taking over any sectional game. And the junior guard is playing with swagger.
“I wasn’t that confident last year, but I took that step forward confidence-wise this year,” Gonzales said. “I’m where I want to be as a player. Obviously, there’s a lot to get better at.
“But there’s nobody in the state more confident than I am right now.”
Gonzales showed off that confidence Wednesday night, pouring in 21 points to lead Brother Rice to a 71-56 win over Marian Catholic in a Class 3A Thornton Sectional semifinal in Harvey.
Zavier Fitch finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Crusaders (31-3), who will take on top-seeded Thornton (28-4) at 7 p.m. Friday in the sectional championship game.
Tyler Wooten scored 13 points and Caden Workman contributed nine, while Cale Cosme and KJ Morris each had seven points for the Crusaders. Cosme, a Lewis recruit, added seven rebounds.
James Bullock Jr. led third-seeded Marian Catholic (22-11) with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Zack Sharkey scored 15 points and Jonah Weathers added nine.
Gonzales was Brother Rice’s closer, scoring 13 points over the final 10 minutes. He started it with a 3-point play, giving the Crusaders a 40-27 lead with just under two minutes left in the third.
The Crusaders led by double digits the rest of the way as Gonzales continued to get to the basket at will.
“He attacked pretty well,” Brother Rice coach Conte Stamas said of Gonzales. “He was pretty clever. He wasn’t like coming down and just going right to the rim. He was pretty shifty.
“He was really good around the basket.”
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For Gonzales, driving to the basket is Plan A. The Spartans never forced him to go to Plan B.
“Once you know what you do best, you tend to stick with it,” he said. “Obviously I think I need to take my shooting to another level to get where I want to get, but if they’re not stopping what I can do best, then I’m not going to stop doing it.”
Gonzales had some good role models to watch last season in Cosme and fellow point guard Ahmad Henderson, who is now playing at Niagara.
Stamas expected Gonzales to be a major contributor this season, but he wasn’t quite prepared for the underclassman to become a star this quickly.
“I’d be lying if I said I expected this because he just got a cup of coffee off the bench last year,” Stamas said. “But being on the varsity and part of a good team, practicing against those guys day in and day out, I’m sure that contributed to his success right now.”
Indeed, Gonzales pointed to what he learned last season as well as his offseason efforts.
“The confidence comes from the early mornings, late nights, working day in and day out,” Gonzales said. “There’s a lot that comes into putting in that work. Teammates want to come work with you. But the hours you put in yourself, that’s where you get the confidence.”
Brother Rice won its first 15 games this season before losing 75-74 to Marian Catholic in double overtime on Dec. 29 in a Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic semifinal.
The Crusaders got their revenge Wednesday night.
“It was intensity, taking care of the ball better, not letting up in general,” Fitch said. “We couldn’t let that happen again.”
Gonzales made sure it wouldn’t.
“I was in a groove all game, all day,” he said. “And I don’t think they could stop me.”