Boys Basketball: Notre Dame juniors continue to follows seniors’ example
BY PATRICK KELLY Contributor February 17, 2012 10:44PM
Niles Friday 2-17-12. Notre Dame's #33 Duante Stephens holds off Marian Catholic's #25 Joshua Cohn during their game at Notre Dame High School in Niles Friday evening 2-17-12. | Kevin Tanaka~for Sun-Times Media.
Article Extras
Updated: March 24, 2012 8:08AM
It was senior night for Notre Dame Friday night against Marian Catholic, but it was juniors Justin Halloran and Matt Mooney that provided a spark for the Dons.
The duo fueled a 13-2 run at the end of the first quarter that allowed Notre Dame to overcome an early deficit, and the Dons never trailed again, cruising to a 48-34 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory in Niles.
Halloran knocked down back-to-back three pointers in the opening stanza, while Mooney added a long-distance bucket and scored all five of his points in the period when Notre Dame erased an early deficit.
“We just tried to come off the bench, the seniors started and they played real well in the beginning,” said Halloran. “So we just tried to come with the same energy and really carry us. We just wanted to keep the team going.”
The Dons (18-7, 5-2) had a balanced attack, as nine different players scored. Halloran led all scorers with 12 points, all on three-pointers, while senior forward Joe Ferrici totaled 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Sophomore Duante Stephens came off the bench and scored five of his nine points in the fourth quarter, and Greg Leifel finished with five tallies.
Notre Dame led by double-digits through the entire fourth quarter, and the margin swelled to 14 points on a free-throw by Jimmy Cravens. Sophomore Jon Johnson closed out the victory by converting two shots from the charity stripe.
Marian Catholic (14-10, 3-3) struggled to overcome the loss of leading scorer Tyler Ulis, who left with an injury in the opening minutes of the second quarter and did not return. The sophomore point guard had five points and two assists before the injury.
“That is all we have talked about for the last month is that we have to find someone else that can step up and do some scoring for us,” said Spartans coach Mike Taylor. “Defensively, we did not do bad, but when we had to get stops we did not.”
Before Notre Dame’s run to close the first, a basket by sophomore John Oliver gave Marian Catholic an 8-4 lead midway through the period.
A basket by Erik Crittendon midway through the third quarter cut the lead to 27-21, but the Spartans could not overcome 20-percent shooting in the second half. Crittendon led Marian Catholic with eight points, while sophomore Ki-Jana Crawford finished with six, despite leaving with injuries on two different occasions.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment