WC_120816

36 | December 8, 2016 | The winnetka Current sports
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Boys basketball
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Notre Dame
hands LA OT loss
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
Five years ago, Tyrone
Slaughter and Robert
Smith, the boys basketball
coaches at Whitney
Young and Simeon, came
together to form a basketball
shootout featuring
both national powers,
as well local teams that
would help feature some
of the area’s biggest rivalries.
That event, the Chicago
Elite Classic, now
features an 11-game high
school schedule that extends
over two days.
For the past two years,
Loyola Academy has been
invited to participate in
the tournament and for the
second consecutive year,
the Ramblers have lost
in heartbreaking fashion.
Last year, Loyola lost to
Maine South on a buzzerbeater
and Friday, Dec. 2,
the Ramblers dropped a
44-42 overtime decision to
Notre Dame.
“We’re so thankful
for coach Slaughter and
coach Smith to invite us
back for a second year in
a row,” Loyola coach Tom
Livatino said. “Unfortunately
for us, we had an
overtime loss to a really
good Notre Dame team,
a rival and a last-second
loss to Maine South last
year, but none the less
this is a great experience
for our guys. This is really
valuable for us and we’re
lucky to play in this environment.”
Like last season, Friday’s
contest came down
to the last possession, but
this time Loyola had the
chance to tie and send it to
another overtime or win.
But Notre Dame’s Matt
Stritzel stole the ball with
two seconds remaining,
ending any hope Loyola
had of pulling off the
comeback.
“I felt that at both those
instances (the last shots of
regulation and overtime), I
just have to do a better job
of preparing them for situations
like that,” Livatino
said. “Our players did a
great job, they battled all
game long but I need to
prepare them better to execute
in those type of situations.”
Both teams had trouble
getting into an offensive
rhythm in the first half, one
that saw the squads having
trouble making baskets
and had the Dons leading
19-15 at the half.
But then it seemed as if
a switch flipped on at the
start of the second half for
the Ramblers. The team
scored nearly as many
points as it did in the first
half (13) and used its defense
to hold Notre Dame
to only five points in the
quarter, giving them a 28-
24 lead after three periods.
Loyola forced nine turnovers
in the third quarter
alone.
“We started to get easy
buckets, started to lock
up on defense, got a tipin
and a layup and that
brought the energy for us,”
Loyola’s Ramar Evans
said about the Ramblers’
third quarter output.
“I felt like our mindset
is where it needed to be,”
Evans said. “We may have
come out a little nervous,
but as we played three,
four minutes into the
game, that all went away.”
Then it was Loyola’s
turn to go cold from the
floor. The Dons (5-0) held
the Ramblers to a mere
two field goals in the
fourth period, outscoring
the Ramblers 13-9 to send
the game into overtime.
Not before some drama
though.
With the game tied at
37 and under 30 seconds,
Loyola held for the final
shot of the game. Senior
guard Matt Lynch (10
points, 8 rebounds) missed
a shot but left enough time
for Notre Dame to get
back and attempt a long
game-winning shot, one
that would bounce off the
rim.
A game that featured
10 ties and 13 score
changes would go backand-forth,
with no team
leading by more than six
points all game. A Loyola
turnover led to the Dons
extending its 43-42 lead
with under 30 seconds to
44-42 on a free throw by
Malik Jenkins (13 points).
Unfortunately for the
Ramblers, they weren’t
able to pull the game out
at the end.
“It’s a neighborhood
game for us, so we knew
that you can throw out
the records, it is always a
tough, competitive game
when Notre Dame plays
Loyola,” Notre Dame
coach Tom Les said.