By Phil Keren

Correspondent

Although his squad lost to Louisville 60-51 in the opening round of tournament play on Friday, Aurora head coach Cody Calhoun was proud of his team’s spirited effort.

“I couldn’t say more about how hard our guys played,” Calhoun said after the Greenmen’s loss in the District III Northeast District Sectional game. “They left everything on the floor. (There were) a couple little execution things, but it was never a question of effort or anything like that.”

Aurora definitely made sure Louisville earned the victory; the Greenmen led the game for the entire first half and at one point built a 13-point lead in the second quarter. They even led for stretches of the third quarter and at a few points early in the fourth period.

A strong defensive effort by both teams and some opening game jitters produced a low- scoring first quarter with Aurora leading 9-6.

In the second period, Aurora’s defensive intensity and diverse offensive attack keyed a 14-4 run that gave the Greenmen a 23-10 lead at the 2:45 mark. The scoring surge consisted of a driving lay-in by senior guard Josh Harrell, a step-back three-pointer from junior guard Luke

Hilditch, a spin move in the post by junior forward Gui Goedert, a trey from senior guard Johnny Trivisonno, a fast break layup by freshman guard Connor McLendon and a pull-up jumper in the paint from McLendon.

A high level of effort on the defensive end put the clamps on the Louisville offense and led to transition baskets for Aurora.

“Everything really started at the defensive end for us,” Calhoun said. “We were just flying around, we got our hands on a lot of passes, we did a good job talking through some of their screening stuff. They do a lot of good stuff where they try and get you out of position. We did a good job. We got them to miss, we were able to rebound, we were able to get out in transition and offensively it made it a little easier to score (in) five-on-four, four-on-three.”

After struggling to find a rhythm against Aurora’s tenacious defense, Louisville began to settle in and build some confidence before halftime. A three-pointer by junior guard Max Mathie, a lay-in from junior forward Colton Dougherty on a feed from junior guard Cohen Rogers and a lay-up by sophomore guard Cody Zahler following a steal keyed a 7-2 Leopards’ run to close the first half. Aurora led 25-17 at the intermission.

Aurora (9-14) was hit hard by foul trouble in the third quarter. In just over a minute of game time, sophomore forward Jack Rachel, Goedert and Harrell were each whistled for their third foul of the game. Calhoun noted that filling in for Rachel, Goedert and Harrell during the second half of the third quarter was a tall order for some of Aurora’s less experienced players.

“(Rachel, Goedert and Harrell) play a lot for us (and) we expect (them) to do a lot at both ends,” Calhoun said. “It hurts having that and then on top of that, you’re putting some inexperienced guys that haven’t played at this level yet that got to go in and have to play a little bit bigger role in that moment. It’s not necessarily a moment they’re ready for, but to have them all out there at one time, it’s a little bit of a struggle. (Louisville was) able to turn us over a few times and they made us pay for some mistakes.”

When Harrell (the last of the three to be called for a third foul), went to the bench at 4:23 of the third period, the Greenmen were winning 30-21. With that trio of experienced players out of the game, Louisville turned up the pressure on defense, created turnovers and chipped away at Aurora’s lead. After McLendon drove to the hoop for a layup to put Aurora ahead, 32-22, at the 3:35 mark, Louisville scored 11 unanswered points. Sophomore guard Drake Wilson made a layup, Dougherty and Rogers both netted two free throws and Rogers scored on a transition lay-in on a feed from sophomore forward Brandon Sanders. Rogers then swished a trey to put

Louisville ahead, 33-32, with about one minute left in the third quarter.

The third period closed out with some fast-paced action as each team scored on a layup following a steal. First, it was Louisville’s Zahler who tipped away a pass, picked it up and sprinted downcourt for a layup. After Trivisonno swished two foul shots, McLendon stole the ball and broke away for an easy lay-in to put Aurora up, 36-35. Rogers knocked down another three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to put the Leopards ahead, 38-36.

Even with the Louisville players and fans energized by Rogers’ closing-quarter trey, the Greenmen responded with a counter-punch of their own. Aurora opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 45-40 lead. As they did with the scoring run in the second quarter, the Greenmen continued to find scoring from multiple sources: senior forward Luke Bonnette canned a jump hook in the lane, Goedert banked one in on a baseline drive, Trivisonno made two free throws and Goedert registered an old-fashioned three-point play.

A mid-range jumper by Wilson and a driving layup courtesy of Sanders reduced Aurora’s lead to 45-44 with about 5:30 to go. Hilditch knocked in a trey to extend the Greenmen’s lead to four, but Rogers answered with a three to drop the Aurora advantage back to one. Zahler stole the ball, drove in for a lay-up and was fouled by Harrell as the shot went in. That basket gave

Louisville a 49-48 with about 3 and 1/2 minutes left and that foul was Harrell’s fifth. On Aurora’s next possession, Rogers swiped the ball away and scored on a fast break layup to put the Leopards ahead, 51-48.

Following a Greenmen timeout, Goedert rebounded his own missed layup, made the putback and was fouled. When Goedert’s charity stripe shot fell through the net, the game was tied at 51 with three minutes remaining.

Louisville used solid defense and made enough free throws down the stretch to outscore Aurora 9-0 in the game’s final three minutes. A turnaround jump hook by Sanders with about 2:40 to go put the Leopards ahead, 53-51, and was the game’s final field goal. The Leopards D either stole the ball or forced a Greenmen missed shot. As Louisville held a small lead, they began to play some keep-away on offense, and Aurora started to foul to preserve time. Zahler, Sanders, Wilson and Rogers combined to make seven of 10 free throws in the contest’s final 90 seconds.

Calhoun said Louisville made plays at both ends of the floor in the second half to take the lead for good.

“They pressured a little bit, they did some things a little bit defensively that were a little bit harder for us,” Calhoun said. “And then Rogers really got going for them. We’ve seen him play in games on film. Once he gets it going, he can put a lot in a row together and that’s what he was able to do in the second half for them.”

Aurora had three players in double figures. Goedert led the way with 17 points, while Hilditch had 11 (three treys) and McLendon added 10.

For Louisville, Rogers had a game-high 28 points, including four three-pointers, while Wilson and Sanders chipped in with 9 each. Friday’s game ended up being the last for Aurora’s five seniors: Bonnette, Harrell, Trivisonno, Nathan Davis and Trenton Page. Calhoun took a moment to reflect on what that quintet meant to the program.

“(In) they’re four years here, they’ve done a ton,” Calhoun said. “I’ve been with them since they were sophomores. Just to see their growth, not just as a basketball player but as a person, it has been really fun to see and the relationships we’ve been able to build. I told them after the game the hardest part for me is not being able to step in a gym with them one more time. That to me is the worst part. I couldn’t be more proud of those five guys. I hope they know that the door is always open for them to come back and I can’t wait to see them back. I know they’re all going to achieve everything they set their mind out to do.”