Confident Crusader
Gonzales goes from ‘a cup of coffee off the bench’ to being the straw that stirs Brother Rice’s drink
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 thirdseeded 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.”
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.”