GA_120116

More documents

Recommendations

Info

34 | December 1, 2016 | The glencoe anchor SPORTS glencoeanchor.com Maine South upsets Loyola in state title game NEIL MILBERT Freelance Reporter After experiencing the thrill of victory for 30 straight games, on the cold night of Saturday, Nov. 26, Loyola Academy experienced the agony of defeat. “This obviously is a new experience for us,” said Loyola coach John Holecek in the wake of the defending champion Ramblers’ 27-17 loss to Maine South in the IHSA Class 8A State Championship game, played in Memorial Stadium on the University of Illinois campus. “Offensively, defensively, special teams — we got beat. It’s painful but we didn’t do enough to win.” The 17 points were the season-low for Loyola, which had eked out a 44- 43 victory over Maine South (11-3) in the second game of the regular season in the friendly confines of Hoerster Field. That game wasn’t decided until the final minute, but in this game the turning point came early in the fourth quarter. The game-changer was a 66-yard punt by the Hawks’ Sean McNulty that equaled the Class 8A championship game record and put the ball on the Loyola 8-yard line with the score tied 17-17 early in the fourth quarter. On the first play from scrimmage, Loyola quarterback Tommy Herion rushed up the middle for an 8-yard gain but Jack Pistorius’ jarring tackle forced him to fumble and Jack Hoffman recovered at the Ramblers 17. Immediately seizing the opportunity, Maine South’s Nick Leongas ran a quarterback draw and carried the ball to the end zone for the winning touchdown. McNulty kicked his third extra point and then, with 24 seconds remaining in the contest, his second field goal of the night put Maine South up 10. The kick from 18 yards out came on a fourth and goal situation at the 1-yard line, which capped a 12 -play, 66-yard drive that ate up 5 minutes, 12 seconds of playing time. At the outset of the game, it appaeared as if the teams were going to engage in a non-stop offensive duel, as they did when they met during the regular season. Maine South took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards for a touchdown that came on Leongas’ 1-yard run but the Ramblers immediately answered when Kyle Rock 21 carries, 154 yards) broke away for a 56-yard touchdown on their fourth play from scrimmage. But then there was a lull in the scoring until Mc- Nulty kicked a 25-yard field goal late in the second quarter. Again the Ramblers answered, and this time they took the lead. Jake Marwede’s 1-yard run finished an 80-yard drive and Patrick Kramer kicked the extra point, giving Loyola a 14-10 halftime advantage. But after the Ramblers went three-and-out to start the second half, the Hawks reclaimed the momentum with a 45-yard scoring drive. Luke Hinkamp got the touchdown when he caught Leongas’ 20-yard Loyola Academy senior quarterback Tommy Herion eludes defenders during the Ramblers’ 27-17 loss to Maine South in the Class 8A state title game Saturday, Nov. 26, in Champaign. Clark Brooks/PhotoNews Media pass just inside the left corner of the end zone and McNulty provided the extra point. Late in the third quarter the Ramblers drove to the Maine South 8, but Herion was sacked for a 10-yard loss, forcing them to settle for Kramer’s 34-yard field goal, which tied the score 17-17 late in the third quarter. Again, Maine South was able to reclaim the momentum in short order, thanks to McNulty’s record-equaling punt, the fumble recovery and Leongas’ touchdown run. “It was heartbreaking,” Ramblers defensive back Ian Swenson said. “We (seniors) hadn’t lost since freshman year when we were 6-3. Our sophomore team went 9-0. The last loss for the Loyola varsity was at the hands of Stevenson in a 2014 Class 8A secondround playoff game. Stevenson went on to win the state championship, while the Ramblers bounced back to win three postseason games in a row, knocking off two Chicago Catholic League opponents and then downing Curie to capture the traditionrich Prep Bowl, which pits the winner of the Catholic League playoffs against the Chicago Public League playoff winner. For Holecek, this was the fourth time in six years that his team played in the 8A championship game. Prefacing last season’s 41-0 landslide victory over Marist was a 13-10 loss to Naperville Central in 2013 and a 21-17 defeat inflicted by Bolingbrook in 2011. The championship was the fourth for Maine South coach Dave Inserra, who has led the Hawks since 2001. Inserra was an assistant coach under Phil Hopkins when Maine South took the state title in 2000 and he likened that year to this year because of the New Trier factor. “We got beat by New Trier in 2000 and they won the conference (the Central Suburban League South) but we came back and won the state championship,” he reminisced. “That was our last loss in the CSL until this year. We won 77 straight CSL games until New Trier beat us (27-21 on Oct. 7). “We used that as motivation. I wore my 2000 state championship T-shirt to constantly remind our players what we did then and let them know we could do it again.” BRATSCHI PLUMBING 801 OAK STREET, WINNETKA www.bratschiinc.com 847.446.1421 Family Owned & Operated Serving the North Shore Since 1937 Has your water heater caught a cold? Lic. 055-004615 Follow Bratschi Plumbing!
glencoeanchor.com SPORTS the glencoe anchor | December 1, 2016 | 35 Boys basketball New Trier holds off Loyola in OT 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO 1st-and-3 Three STARS OF THE WEEK 1. Rock helps LA finish second in state. (ABOVE) Kyle Rock rushed for 154 yards on 21 carries and had 40 yards receiving on four catches in Loyola’s 27-17 loss to Maine South in the class 8A title game. 2. Evans leads LA to title game. Ramar Evans scored 51 points in four games as the Ramblers went 2-2 and finished second in their Thanksgiving tournament. 3. Graham leads NT Green to title. Michael Graham had eight goals and two assists as New Trier Green won the LA Thanksgiving tournament. Michael Wojtychiw Sports Editor It’s no shock that when bitter rivals New Trier and Loyola Academy met on the night before Thanksgiving, the thought of turkey and stuffing was put on hold for a couple of hours. “We had a great crowd tonight and there was some great energy,” Loyola coach Tom Livatino said. However, it was New Trier coach Scott Fricke’s squad that escaped the Wilmette gym with a 56-54 overtime win over the host Ramblers in both teams’ last pool play game in the Loyola/New Trier Thanksgiving Tournament. “I’m really proud of these guys,” Fricke said. “We’re playing some young kids and to play in this environment. Now, there’s a lot of work to be done but we played well. The thing about tonight was we wanted to compete. We wanted to win and compete and that’s what it was.” The Ramblers coach, meanwhile, lamented his team’s struggles. “I don’t think I prepared our team to face any type of zone and that showed and we struggled,” Livatino said. In what one would expect from an early-season matchup, it was a game of runs. After the Trevians got out to a quick 5-0 start, the Ramblers rattled off a 13-2 run, aided by two big three-point shots from junior Kevin Cunningham (14 points). The first quarter would end with an 18- 14 advantage for the hosts. After a relatively slow second quarter, things got a little chippy between the rivals in the third period. Midway through the quarter, New Trier junior guard Andrew Kirkpatrick (11 points, four assists) picked up a technical foul for taunting a Loyola player after Kirkpatrick’s basket gave the Trevians a 32-31 lead. “He’s a fiery, competitive guy and when you’re playing against neighbors and kids you know, sometimes that happens,” Fricke said. “But he learned that that can’t happen and that can be a potentially huge play in the game. In retrospect, I’m glad the ref called that because he can learn from that and not do it again.” After Kirkpatrick took a seat on the bench, Loyola rattled off an 11-5 run to give the Ramblers a 42-37 lead after three periods. Evans hit two threes in a row, including one from NBA range right before the buzzer sounded to end the period. Loyola would extend the lead to 44-37 before the Trevians (2-1) slowly, but surely, crawled back to tie the game at 44 on a three from Joe Akason. “For us to be down seven or eight late in the third quarter and then to take the lead and go into overtime after missing a few shots to win the game and compete like that, it was great,” the New Trier coach added. Down 49-47 with just over a minute remaining in the game, Loyola’s Matt Sechman’s first basket of the game tied the game at 49, forcing the Trevians to call a timeout with 1:06 remaining. After neither team could do anything with the ball on each of their next two possessions, New Trier grabbed a rebound with 41.7 seconds remaining and held for the last shot. “The game plan was for him (Kirkpatrick) to go by his guy and to make an extra pass,” Fricke said. “He went by his guy and saw the rim but we actually had our best shooter (Aaron Peltz) open on the right side.” Kirkpatrick’s shot missed and the game was headed for an extra fourminute period. The start of overtime was identical to the start of the game. The Trevians ran off a 5-0 spurt to start Loyola’s Matt Lynch looks to drive between New Trier’s Aaron Peltz (11) and Andrew Kirkpatrick (1) Nov. 23 in Wilmette. Varsity Views the extra period, as Loyola couldn’t score for most of the first half of overtime. Two free throws by Julian DeGuzman cut the New Trier lead to 54-51. Senior center Teddy McGregor extended the Trevians lead to 56-51 before Evans (20 points, six rebounds, five assists) hit a three with 30.4 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 56-54. Following a Loyola timeout and two New Trier missed free throws, the Ramblers had a chance to send their rivals home with a loss. Unfortunately for Loyola, Evans’ shot hit the rim and bounced off, giving the Trevians the win. “If we could do that one over again, and we can’t, I probably would have called timeout and been a little bit clearer but that’s VARSITY VIEWS VARSITY VIEWS a good shot,” the Loyola coach said. “If Ramar is shooting a last shot for this team, it’s a good shot. Maybe we could have gotten him a cleaner look, a better executed play, but that’s with me. Him taking the shot? That’s fine.” “Our growth is going to come over the next four months and this the first area we’ll grow from,” Livatino added. “We’ll grow from all these games but it’s a little easier and will get their attention a little bit.” Even with the loss, Loyola advanced to the title game of the tournament, where it dropped a 55-44 decision to Benet. New Trier fell to U-High 47-41 in the third-place game. Listen Up “I felt we played well on offense but it just wasn’t there 100 percent of the time.” Kyle Rock — Loyola Academy running back on his team’s offensive performance in the Class 8A title game. tunE in What to watch this week BOYS BASKETBALL: Loyola plays Notre Dame in the Chicago Elite Classic. Loyola plays Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at the UIC Pavilion. Index 32 - Loyola boys basketball preview 31 - Athlete of the Week Fastbreak is compiled by Sports Editor Michael Wojtychiw, m.wojtychiw@22ndcenturymedia.com.
Page 1 and 2: ® NOW HIRING FOR SUMMER 2017 JUNE
Page 3 and 4: glencoeanchor.com news the glencoe
Page 5 and 6: glencoeanchor.com glencoe the glenc
Page 17 and 18: glencoeanchor.com sound off the gle
Page 19 and 20: the glencoe anchor | December 1, 20
Page 21 and 22: glencoeanchor.com life & arts the g
Page 25 and 26: glencoeanchor.com life & arts the g
Page 27 and 28: glencoeanchor.com real estate the g
Page 29 and 30: glencoeanchor.com classifieds the g
Page 31 and 32: glencoeanchor.com SPORTS the glenco
Page 33: glencoeanchor.com SPORTS the glenco

GA_120116

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?