Following a 73-49 loss to their rivals, Harvard-Westlake, the Cubs looked to turn it around against the Chaminade Eagles and achieve their first Mission League win of the season.
Starting Cubs:
PG: John Belardi, #12 (6’3”, G, Jr.)
SG: Andre Parris, #13 (6’3”, G, Sr.)
SF: Jack Kresich, #10 (6’7”, F/G, Jr.)
PF: Remington Rofer, #35 (6’8”, F/C, Sr.)
C: Colby Brooks, #20 (6’7”, C, Sr.)
1st Quarter
Brooks won the opening tip but ended up tipping it out of bounds, giving the Eagles possession to start the game. The Eagles scored off of a pair of free throws at the 7:41 mark. A jumper by Jack Kresich got the game tied at 2 with 7:10 remaining. Rofer was sent to the line at the 6:42 mark and made one of two to give the Cubs their first lead of the game. After an Eagles jumper to give them the lead, Brooks nailed a triple to get the Cubs a 6-4 edge over the Eagles with six minutes left. A Kresich swat sent the Cubs crowd off of its feet, but an Eagles steal and score quieted them down and tied the game at six with 5:40 remaining. Kresich was sent to the line and sank both free throws, giving the Cubs the lead with 5:23 to go. After an Eagles layup, the Cubs countered with two buckets from Brooks and Kresich to take a 12-8 lead with 4:20 remaining. The Eagles were sent to the line, where they made one of two free throws to cut the Cubs’ lead within three with 4:06 remaining. Kresich drilled a three with 3:50 to go, and the score was 15-9 in favor of the Cubs. Another Cub foul sent the Eagles to the stripe. They made both free throws to come within four with 3:41 remaining. Parris’ jumper put the Cubs up by six, 17-11, with 3:24 to go. Parris got a steal, but Brooks’ outlet pass was too long for Parris, resulting in a Cubs turnover with 3:10 remaining. Uri Ferguson came in for Parris at the three-minute mark. The Eagles and Brooks traded layups and the Cubs led by six with two minutes remaining. Another Brooks layup gave the Cubs an eight-point cushion with 1:15 left. The Eagles answered right back, draining a three with 55 seconds remaining to come within five. Belardi’s jumper put the Cubs back up by seven with 20 seconds left.
Score: 23-16 Cubs
2nd Quarter
A scoring drought from both teams was stopped when the Eagles made one of two free throws at the 7:15 mark. Roquemore’s putback layup gave the Cubs another eight-point lead with seven minutes remaining. The Eagles came back on the other end, draining a three to come within five with 6:40 to go. Freshman point guard Trent “Triple T” Turner, who started the second quarter, had a nifty ankle-breaking crossover on his defender, sending the Cub student section into a frenzy with 6:20 left. He did not finish it off, as a whistle was blown shortly after to give the ball back to the Eagles. The Eagles made another layup with six minutes left, and the lead was withered down to three, 25-22. Layups were traded between Jalen Cox and the Eagles, and the Cubs still led 27-24 with 5:30 to go. Another Eagles layup suddenly got the lead down to one with 5:16 left. Following a scoring drought, the Eagles soared in for a dunk to give them the lead with 3:12 remaining. The Eagles increased their lead with a three-point play at the 2:58 mark and now led 31-27. Rofer’s layup got the Cubs within two, but the Eagles answered with a three on the other end with 2:34 remaining. Brooks’ layup got the Cubs back within three, and his three-point play on the Cubs’ next possession tied the game at 34 with 1:57 to go in the first half. Back-to-back Eagles threes caused the Cubs to call a timeout with 55 seconds left. Belardi’s jumper was blocked with ten seconds left, and the Eagles missed a three at the buzzer.
Score: 40-34 Eagles
3rd Quarter
The Cubs gained possession to start the second half, but threw it away with an Eagles steal and slam with 7:50 left. The Cubs’ first points of the second half came courtesy of a Kresich jumper with 7:20 remaining. Another Eagles’ layup brought the deficit back to ten, 46-36, with seven minutes to go. Back-to-back Cox jumpers got the Cubs within six, 46-40, with 6:16 to go. Brooks went down with an injury at the six-minute mark, and Roquemore came in for him. Cox’s stunning play continued, as he made a three-point play to cut the Eagles’ lead to three with 4:54 left in the quarter. Kresich’s game-tying three capped off a 10-0 Cubs’ run with 4:11 remaining. Kresich gave the Cubs the lead once again off of free throws at the four-minute mark. The Eagles stopped the Cubs’ momentum with a layup to tie the game at 48 with 3:30 remaining. After made layups from Kresich and the Eagles, the game was tied again at 50 with 2:38 to go. Another layup exchange between the Eagles and Kresich tied the game at 52 with 1:35 left. The Eagles got a steal and a layup to regain the lead with 1:17 remaining. Cox’s triple put the Cubs in front once again, 55-54, with a minute left in the third quarter. A Rofer block led to a Roquemore layup, further increasing the Cubs’ lead to three, 57-54, with 38 seconds remaining. After a Kresich block, the Eagles got a steal that led to a three-point play. The game was tied at 57 going into the fourth quarter.
Score: Tied at 57
4th Quarter
Once again, the Cubs had the ball to begin the final frame and immediately took advantage with a Kresich layup at the 7:44 mark. The Eagles drained another three to take a 60-59 lead with 7:30 to play. Kresich struck again with a layup to get the Cubs the lead with under seven minutes to play. The Eagles would not go away, scoring on a putback layup with 6:35 left. The Jack Attack was in full effect, as he buried a three with 6:11 remaining to give the Cubs a 64-62 lead. Following one of two made Eagles free throws, Ferguson made a layup to increase the Cubs’ lead and keep the momentum swinging their way with 5:50 to go. Consecutive Eagles layups gave them a 67-66 advantage with 4:15 left to play. The Eagles were sent to the line, where they drained one of two free throws to lead by two with four minutes remaining. Kresich was back at it again, scoring another layup to tie the game at 68 with 3:24 left. The Eagles regained the lead yet again off of a layup with less than three minutes to go. After another scoring break, the Cubs called timeout at the 1:31 mark. Belardi’s pair of made free throws tied the game at 70 with 1:15 left. Another foul sent Belardi back to the line, where he drained two huge free throws to give the Cubs a 72-70 lead with 56 seconds remaining. The Eagles drew a foul and were given a one-and-one opportunity at the stripe. They missed the free throw, and Coach Adams called another timeout with 38 seconds to play. A battle for the ball ended with a jump ball going to the Eagles with 32 seconds left. The Eagles missed a three with 20 seconds remaining, and Cox was sent to the line at the 15-second mark. He missed the free throw. The intensity continued, and the game soon became a free throw contest with the Cubs and Eagles both committing numerous fouls late in the game. The Eagles missed their free throw with two seconds to play. On the other side, Rofer was sent to the line with 1.5 seconds remaining. He made one of two free throws to put the Cubs up by three. The Cubs ended the game with a steal in the backcourt to steal one on the road for their first Mission League win of the season.
FINAL: 73-70 Cubs
Cub of the Game
The Cub of the Game was Jack Kresich, who scored a season-high 29 points. He said the biggest key to his performance was the team’s size. “We abused them down low. We got the ball to me down low, and I do what I have to do.” Kresich has also become an excellent post-up player this season. He stated, “I’ve been working on my footwork and my patience in the paint, and just finishing strong in the basket when my teammates pass me the ball.”
The Next Game
The Cubs face the Crespi Celts on Senior Night at Leavey Gymnasium on Friday, January 24, at 7:00 pm.