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glenviewlantern.com sports
the glenview lantern | January 24, 2019 | 41
Boys Basketball
Tired Ramblers can't keep up
Media Podz knows digital content
Casey Bannon, Freelance Reporter
Some coaches like to dive straight into
the film after a tough loss. Others like to
throw it away.
Loyola head coach Tom Livatino says
he’ll be opting for the latter after his
team's 38-29 loss to the Saint Viator Lions
at Evanston on Saturday, Jan. 19.
“I just think we look exhausted,” Livatino
said. “And that’s not to make any excuses,
[Saint Viator] played great, but we
look tired out there.”
Playing their seventh game already in
January, which followed a four-game
Florida trip to end December, the grindit-out
Rambler offense managed little of
anything against the Lions. Junior forward
Bennett Kwiecinski knocked down a pair
of free throws with less than a minute remaining
to become the only Loyola scorer
in double digits for the night. Quinn Pemberton
chipped in with seven.
After holding Saint Viator (16-4, 3-1
ESCC) to only two points in the second
quarter, the Ramblers (16-6, 6-3 CCL)
headed into halftime trailing 16-14 before
scoring only two points of their own in the
third quarter.
Just a night prior, the offense failed to
make a three-pointer and managed only
38 points in a victory against St. Joseph.
Rather than panic, they will attempt to reset.
“We’ve been scoring the ball well all
year,” Livatino said. “I just think we need
to take some time away.”
For all of the offensive struggles, there
were equal positives on the defensive end.
Jordan Kwiecinski, with help defense
from his twin brother Bennett, held Lion’s
senior guard and Kent State commit Jeremiah
Hernandez to 13 points — and only
4 in the second half.
This is only the fourth game that Hernandez
has played without his backcourt
mate Treyvon Calvin. Calvin, a senior captain
and Wright State recruit, broke his left
hand while high-fiving a teammate earlier
this month but is expected to be back by
the playoffs. The Lions are now 2-2 without
their leading scorer. In the interim, junior
guard Connor Kochera picked up the
slack with a game-high 15 points — 14 of
those coming in the second half.
“I actually thought our kids did a really
good job picking up on the things we
Loyola Academy boys basketball player
Connor Barrett drives past a St. Viator
player on Saturday, Jan. 19, in Evanston.
Tracy Allen/22nd Century Media
wanted to do defensively,” Livatino said.
“That is a very good team and I think
they’re going to have a nice run later this
year.”
Trailing by eight heading into the
fourth, the Ramblers attempted to speed
up a patient Lions offense with full court
pressure. After creating a few turnovers
with a 1-3-1 trap, and adding a 3-pointer
from junior guard William Pujals, the
Ramblers had a chance to make it a twopossession
game with just under two minutes
remaining. Hernandez would have
other ideas, however, as he plucked the
ball from a stumbling Pujals and took it
the other way for a two-hand dunk to end
any hopes of a Rambler comeback.
The game was the second of three
played at Beardsley Gymnasium on Saturday,
as part of the 9th Annual War on
the Shore. All proceeds from the shootout
will go to the Danny Did foundation — a
nonprofit which raises awareness to fight
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.
Coming into Saturday night, the Ramblers
had won nine of their last 10 games
after starting 7-4. They will look to get
back to their winning ways against De La
Salle this coming Friday.
“I’m not concerned,” Livatino said. “I
think we’re going to play really well [on
Friday].”
When asked if his kids will get a day off
tomorrow, Livatino laughed.
“Two days off, actually,” he said holding
up two fingers.
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