After being routed two years ago on its home floor, Leo was ready for a return visit from Loyola on Friday night. Instead of revenge, it got the same old Ramblers.
Colin Falls scored 24 points and the Loyola (7-2, 4-1) defense thoroughly contained Leo’s offense as the Ramblers pounded the Lions 59-42 in the Chicago Catholic League. It was the third straight game for Loyola where it allowed fewer than 45 points.
“I thought it was unique two years ago when we beat them here,” said Loyola coach John O’Loughlin, whose team pasted the Lions 73-44 in 1998. “How do you put into words to rout Leo twice at Leo? But our goal was to do that again.”
What started as a back-and-forth struggle turned into a laugher in the second half as Loyola’s defense held Leo scoreless for a four-minute stretch. Leo ran off nine straight points and turned a 14-9 first-quarter lead into a 25-11 edge. Matt Danielak came off the bench to score five points during that stretch, and Falls scored five points in an 8-0 Loyola run to close the quarter and the half with a 33-13 Loyola edge.
Leo (6-2, 3-1) managed to hit only 6-of-24 shots from the floor in the first half, including 1-for-12 from three-point range. To make matters worse for the Lions, they were outrebounded on the night 27-23.
Loyola scored eight of the second half’s first 10 points, and their big lead was never in doubt. Leo would get no closer than 17 the rest of the night.
“They did what they wanted to do tonight,” said Leo coach Jerry Tokars. “They came in and played solid basketball. They hit the boards and hit the key shots. It’s tough to play catch-up like that, even in your own gym.”
Mike Viglione finished with 12 points for Loyola, including hitting 3-of-4 threes in the first half. Will Washington was the only Leo player in double figures with 14.
— Phil English
Brother Rice 66, Mt. Carmel 50: Chris Miernicki scored 20 points as the Crusaders (6-2, 4-0) rolled in the Catholic League. Rice broke open a tight game in the third when it outscored Mt. Carmel 28-12.
Calumet 58, Bowen 48: Tyres Herron tallied 35 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals for Calumet (1-5).
Cary-Grove 88 Prairie Ridge 60: Dan Evans scored 25 points as Cary-Grove (7-1, 4-1) rolled in the Fox Valley.
Chicago Vocational 65, Gage Park 63: Rashad McKinnie scored 24 points and made the game-winning jumper with 12 seconds left to lift the Cavaliers (6-2). Percy Spencer added 16 points and Antonio Stamps contributed 10 blocked shots for Vocational. Pierre Alston led Gage Park (6-3) with 19 points.
Clemente 65, Wells 60: Helson Munoz scored 29 points as the Wildcats (6-4) held on.
Deerfield 65, Maine East 55: Seth Franklin’s 23 points lifted Deerfield (3-3, 2-0) in the Central Suburban North.
Driscoll 52, St. Edward 48 (OT): Matt Butler drilled a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to give Driscoll (3-6, 2-2) a 50-48 lead and finished the Suburban Catholic game with 12 points.
Dwight 69, Sandwich 57: Brandon Krug scored 32 points to lift Dwight (8-0, 4-0) in the Interstate Eight.
Evanston 53, Niles West 46: Evanston (5-2, 2-0) won in the Central Suburban South behind Anthony Lenoir’s 20 points.
Evergreen Park 60, Riverside-Brookfield 57: Benny Rodriguez (five points) hit a three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining to give Evergreen Park (5-3, 2-3) the victory. Ron Bell led Evergreen with 23 points, and Brad Anderson added 13.
Fenwick 52, Bishop McNamara 47: Fenwick (5-2, 3-1) jumped ahead in the third quarter and held off McNamara in the Catholic League behind 25 points from Dan Kloak.
Geneva 55, Plainfield 49 (OT): Jon Shafer scored 19 points for Geneva, including a clutch three-pointer in overtime as the Vikings (8-0, 4-0) pulled off the Suburban Prairie Red win. Jim Eddy added 17 points for Geneva, while Chris Lewis led Plainfield (4-3, 1-2) with 14 points.
Hales Franciscan 52, St. Francis de Sales 48: Larry Miller scored 21 points and had 13 rebounds as Hales (8-1, 3-1) held on in the Catholic League.
Hinckley-Big Rock 62, Aurora Christian 52: Mike Phillips scored 20 points to pace the Royals (6-1) in a non-conference game. Jeremy Henderson’s 20 points led Aurora Christian (2-5).
Huntley 77, Westminster Christian 66: Jason Kalsow scored 21 for Huntley (7-1).
Kankakee 73, Rich Central 53: Maurice Terrell’s 18 points led Kankakee (4-3, 2-0) in the SICA South. Rich Central is 2-5, 1-1.
Lake Forest 58, Mundelein 57: Mike Liddy scored 19 points to go with Brian Obiala’s 16 to give the Scouts (8-0, 3-0) the edge in the North Suburban Lake. Graham Beatty led Mundelein (6-2, 1-2) with 16 points.
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Leyden 63, Addison Trail 58: Ares Collins scored 34 points, including 12 on three-pointers, to fuel Leyden (5-4, 1-1) in the West Suburban Gold. Bill Brechin, Mike Rumishek and Lionel Williams each scored 12 for Addison Trail (7-2, 2-1).
Lockport 54, Stagg 37: Kevin Troc scored 17 and Alando Tucker 16 for Lockport (6-1, 1-1) in the SICA West. Jon Womack and David Genslinger each scored 10 for Stagg (5-3, 0-2).
Lyons 47, Oak Park 41: A.J. Allodi scored 20 points, including 12 of 12 from the foul line, as Lyons (7-1, 2-1) prevailed in the West Suburban Silver. Cortez Forte added 13 and Jim Maley 10 as Lyons converted 23-of-30 free throws.
Mather 83, Roosevelt 53: Rammel Nwaokai scored 20 points and Allen Aguada added 13 as the Rangers (6-2) rolled.
Morris 51, Fenton 44: Noah Varness’ 17 points sparked Morris (4-0, 3-0) in the Suburban Prairie Red. Fenton fell to 0-6, 0-3.
Niles North 72, Maine West 58: Brian Plotkin and Julius Ventura scored 20 and 17 points, respectively, for Niles North (4-5, 1-1) in the Central Suburban North. Maine West is 2-5, 0-2.
Notre Dame 42, St. Joseph 33: Kris Duzik and Will Schober scored seven points apiece to lead a balanced Notre Dame attack in the Dons’ East Suburban Catholic victory. Chris Hart led St. Joseph (2-7, 1-3) with 13 points.
Prospect 64, Hersey 60: Craig Anderson and Joe Duggan each scored 16 points as Prospect (3-4, 2-0) hung on in the Mid-Suburban League East. Ryan Redel led all scorers with 27 points for Hersey (4-4, 0-2).
Richards 72, Bolingbrook 70: Duran Johnson scored 27 points, including a layup with two seconds left in double overtime for the game-winner, and Lester McDaniel added 23 with seven assists as Richards (4-3, 2-0) edged Bolingbrook (3-4, 1-1) in the SICA North.
Rolling Meadows 53, Elk Grove 52: D.J. Brown scored 14 points and Ben Barnes added 13 as Rolling Meadows (4-4, 2-0) escaped with the Mid-Suburban League East victory.
St. Patrick 66, Holy Cross 42: Chris Hartman scored 21 points to lead St. Patrick to the East Suburban Catholic victory. The Shamrocks (6-1, 4-0) opened the first quarter with a 14-4 run with Hartman scoring five points and Anthony Scala adding six. Scala, who finished with 11 points, and Hartman each hit three three-point attempts in the first quarter. David Rivera led Holy Cross (5-3, 2-2) with 17 points.
St. Rita 58, St. Ignatius 55: St. Rita trailed 18-2 early in the second quarter before storming into the lead at halftime en route to the Catholic League win. Andre Senegal scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Mustangs (3-6, 1-3) and was assisted by 12 points from Will Miles and 11 points from Eddie Greer.
Sandburg 71, Andrew 47: Cory Cummens scored 26 and Sean McBride added 19 for Sandburg (6-3, 2-0) in the SICA West.
Schaumburg 65, Palatine 54: Tony Young scored six of his 16 points during a 10-0 third-quarter run that gave Schaumburg (7-1, 2-0) breathing room in the Mid-Suburban League West.
Walther Lutheran 75, Luther North 67: David Vasser scored 20 points for the Broncos (7-1, 5-0) in the Private School League. Shalimar Jacobs had a game-high 34 points for Luther North (3-4, 2-3).
Westmont 70, Kaneland 57: Pierre Pierce poured in 37 points to go with eight steals as Westmont (7-1, 5-0) rolled in the Suburban Prairie White.
Wheaton Academy 77, Luther South 49: John Nielson scored 26 points and Jim Fortosis scored 13 for Wheaton Academy (5-3, 3-2) in the Private School League.
Yorkville 57, Elmwood Park 55: Reid Burel’s 33 points were enough to lead Yorkville (5-4, 2-3) to the Suburban Prairie White victory. Angelo DelGuidice led Elmwood Park (0-8, 0-5) with 23 points.
Zion-Benton 71, Round Lake 37: Jerrel Smith scored 11 points and Quienton Dennis and Julian Lott added 10 each for Zion-Benton (8-1, 3-0) in the North Suburban.
Girls
Benet 52, Rolling Meadows 36: Jenny Callan’s 18 points sparked No. 8 Benet (10-1) in the non-conference game.
Neuqua Valley 67, Lake Park 56: Cassie Stark scored 22 points and Rnesha Baldwin added 12 as No. 10 Neuqua Valley (12-1, 5-0) overcame the loss of starter Lindsay Wisdom for the Upstate Eight victory. Katie Herman scored 16 to lead Lake Park (6-6, 4-1).
New Trier 63, Waukegan 49: Shana Franklin scored 18 points and Lauren Lubin added 14 points as the No. 15 Trevians (10-2, 4-0) won in the Central Suburban South. New Trier used strong defense to jump out to a 24-8 lead after the first quarter. “We did a good job of putting pressure on them and we got easy baskets in transition,” said New Trier coach Teri Rodgers. Shea Pettis scored 16 points to lead Waukegan.
Maine South 64, Glenbrook South 48: Liz Bondi scored 16 points and Krissy Vonesh and Katie Ristau had 10 apiece to spark the No. 19 Hawks (9-2, 2-1) in the Central Suburban South. Sarah Johnson led all scorers with 22 points for Glenbrook South (8-3, 2-2).
Niles West 42, Evanston 34: The three Hohs sisters combined for 27 points as Niles West (7-5, 2-2) won in the Central Suburban South. Junior Karen led the way with 12 points, sophomore Heather had 11 and senior Lynn added five points and 10 rebounds.