With a year in waiting behind him, Ali Tharwani is making the most of his time with the varsity this season at Marmion.
It has been worth the wait for both the team and the player — a 5-foot-10 junior point guard from Naperville who transferred from Metea Valley for his sophomore year with the Cadets.
Transfer rules limited him to the sophomore team last winter, but he has used that experience wisely, getting familiar with teammates that he has been clicking with this season.
“My thing is getting my teammates involved and trying to get them to score before me,” Tharwani said. “It’s always my team before I score. My vision is a big strong suit for me.
“I’ve always passed the ball. My IQ, I feel, is really good, like knowing where the ball is, knowing where the guys are and hitting them with a pass.”
And he’s also learned that scoring isn’t everything.
Tharwani put on a clinic in that regard Friday night for host Marmion in a 59-32 Catholic League White victory over St. Francis De Sales in Aurora on a night that he did not score a single point.
Still, Tharwani made a difference, attacking the Pioneers’ 1-3-1 zone and finding sophomore guard Joseph Kramer and senior center Sam Dalmann with crisp passes, leading to two of the team’s first three baskets in helping to build a 16-2 lead after one quarter.
St. Francis De Sales (5-13, 2-2) never got close from there as Tharwani finished with five assists, three rebounds, two blocked and a steal for Marmion (11-8, 3-1).
Kramer scored a game-high 14 points and senior guard Caden Anderson added 13.
Anderson played varsity last season, as both freshman and sophomore teams won Catholic League White titles, but he has connected with Tharwani.
“Caden is a great player and he plays off me,” Tharwani said. “He’s taught me a lot about playing varsity. He’s a great leader and a great teammate.”
The 6-5 Dalmann, Marmion’s lone post player, added eight points and eight rebounds Friday.
“One of our strengths is we’ve got multiple guys who can handle the ball,” Marmion coach Joe Piekarz said. “Ali is our primary ballhandler, but Caden can bring the ball up the floor.”
So can senior guard Mac Moore and sophomore guard David Malley.
“Ali doesn’t have to feel like he has to handle all the pressure,” Piekarz said. “But we do like the ball in his hands.”
Tharwani, who averages 9.0 points, also can score. In leading the Cadets to fifth place at the Plano Christmas Classic, he was the team’s scoring leader with 59 points.
The Cadets won three of four games there, earning him a spot on the all-tournament team. But like the ballhandling duties, scoring roles are divided among many on this team.
“We’re very lucky,” Piekarz said. “We’ve got about four guys averaging between eight and 10 points. When you have that, it’s a nice luxury. You don’t have to rely on one guy to do all the scoring.”
Scorers in that group are all capable of scoring between 15 and 20 points on any given night and maybe more, according to Anderson.
“When we go play teams, if they have one guy who scores a lot, it’s easier to defend that team,” Anderson said. “When the scoring is spread out, it’s that much more difficult to stop.
“When we spread it out, it’s hard to beat us.”
Piekarz also likes the balance Tharwani brings to the point guard position.
“He’s had big 17-18-point games, but other games, when there’s a need for him to distribute, he distributes,” Piekarz said of Tharwani. “That’s what you want out of a point guard thinking, ‘If Joey Kramer is hot, I get him the ball. Same goes for Caden Anderson.’
“That’s a great point guard mentality there. Not the, ‘I have to get mine.’”
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