The Cubs bounced back after being stunned by Providence at the buzzer last night. They beat the Knight High School Hawks 77-52, advanced to 3-1, and placed third in the Providence Tournament.
1st Quarter
The Cubs got on the board first thanks to a three-pointer by senior guard Neil Owens. Knight got on the board on a layup, trailing 3-2. Senior forward James Keefe was fouled at 7:21, and made one of two free throws. The Hawks got another bucket to tie the game at 4 with 6:40 remaining. Another three by Owens helped Loyola regain the lead, 7-4, with 6:15 left. Keefe scored on a layup to give Loyola a five point lead with less than six minutes to go. Back-to-back threes by Mason Butler and Neil Owens helped the Cubs lead 15-4 with five minutes left. Senior forward Anthony Lucenti scored a two-pointer, expanding the Cubs lead to 13. The Hawks proceeded to score another deuce to end Loyola’s 11-0 run. With less than four minutes to go, senior guard CJ Jones buried a three pointer, which helped the Cubs lead 20-6. The Cubs still led 20-8 after another bucket by the Hawks. Keefe was fouled at the 2:55 mark, making only one of his two attempts from the line. A Lucenti layup at the 2:11 mark made a 15-point Cub lead, 23-8. The Hawks made a layup to beat the buzzer.
Score: Loyola 23, Knight 10
2nd Quarter
Knight opened the second quarter with a layup. Sophomore guard John Belardi was fouled with 6:41 left, and made one of his two shots, giving the Cubs a double-digit lead, 24-14. The Hawks got a putback layup, resulting in an eight point lead for Loyola. With 5:35 remaining in the quarter, a Hawks dunk made it a six-point game, 24-18. A three by junior forward Colby Brooks gave the Cubs a 9-point lead. Brooks was also fouled at the 5:13 mark, and he converted both of his free throws. The Hawks made a layup and trailed 29-20 with 4:20 remaining. Another Hawks layup resulted in another six-point deficit with less than four minutes left. Owens was fouled with 3:30 on the clock, and he made one of his two shots. Keefe made a putback layup, and the Cubs led 32-22 with 2:40 to go in the first half. The Hawks converted a three-point-play with 2:36 remaining. Keefe was fouled at the 2:23 mark, and made both of his free throws. He also made a jump shot with 1:40 left. The Hawks got another two-pointer with less than a minute remaining. Senior guard Jared Cox made a bucket to give the Cubs an 11-point lead going into halftime.
Score: Loyola 38, Knight 27
3rd Quarter
The Hawks started the quarter with a three-point-play to cut the lead to eight. A Lucenti layup gave the Cubs a 10-point lead. With five minutes remaining, Butler made a layup, and the Cubs led 44-33. Owens knocked down two free throws to give the Cubs a 13 point lead with 4:47 to go. Jones made a layup to strengthen Loyola’s lead to 15, 48-33. Back-to-back buckets by the Hawks kept them trailing 48-37 with 3:30 left in the quarter. The Hawks continued their 5-0 run with a three-pointer with around three minutes remaining. A Jones three ended the Hawks run, and the Cubs led 51-40 with 2:45 to go. The Hawks turned the ball over at the 2:23 mark. Brooks was fouled and made both of his two free throws to help the Cubs lead 53-40 with 2:04 to go. He was also fouled at the 1:43 mark, but he only made his one of his two free throws. A Hawks player was fouled with 1:14 left, and he made one of his two free throws. A Brooks steal that led to a Jones layup gave the Cubs a 14-point lead with less than a minute to go. Jones got a block with four seconds to go.
Score: Loyola 56, Knight 42
4th Quarter
The Cubs scored the first points of the final frame thanks to a Brooks layup at the 7:25 mark. A Keefe lob off of an inbounds pass made it a 18-point ball game with the Cubs leading 60-42 with 6:45 left. Brooks was fouled with 6:31 to play. He made both of his free throws to give the Cubs a 20-point lead. A Butler layup helped the Cubs lead 64-42. Another Hawks dunk made it a 64-46 game with less than five minutes left in the game. A Brooks steal and a Keefe layup got the Cubs back to a 20-point lead, 66-46, with four minutes to go. Brooks then got another steal and scored on a dunk, resulting in a 22-point lead, the largest one of the game. A bucket by Keefe kept the Cubs on a 6-0 run and leading 70-46 with 3:19 to go. Knight had an opportunity at a three-point-play, but failed to convert the free throw. A Hawks layup still kept the Cubs up by 20. With less than two minutes to go, Keefe scored a bucket to give the Cubs a 72-50 lead. The Hawks answered with a layup, still trailing 72-52. A Keefe layup and a Cox three helped the Cubs punctuate the game on a 5-0 run with 35 seconds left.
FINAL: Loyola 77, Knight 52
James Keefe made the All-Tournament Team and led Loyola in scoring with 22 points in the game. On being named to the All-Tournament Team, he said, “It feels good. It’s a really good signal of achievement.”
Postgame:
Coach Frank Peters said, “The team played well. We were great defensively, coming back from that one point loss last night. I think we actually filled the holes that we needed to. As a staff, we were pleased.”
He said the players of the game were James Keefe and CJ Jones, adding, “Both of them played well tonight, not only offensively but defensively...We really played as a team with those two guys. They were really impressive throughout the tournament.”
CJ Jones had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. He commented, “I was pleased with how I played and as well as how we played. I think that last game was good for us, because we were able to put everything together. It was a good learning experience for us.“ Addressing his play over the course of the tournament, he said, “I was working on the different aspects of my game that need improving, my foot speed, and making it really simple for myself on offense, which I felt I did pretty well over the stretch of four games.”
James Keefe had 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. He stated, "Overall, we rebounded from the loss really well tonight. I thought I played better. As a team, we had more energy. We took care of business. In both games, we were up at halftime, and this game, we finished it, which was huge.”
In the first half, Knight was full-court pressing after the Cubs secured their rebounds. That changed in the second half when the Cubs started getting the ball up the floor after getting rebounds. Jones believes there was a change in the second half. “I think just coming out with the same fire that we had to start the game. We were playing [a little angry] but still staying true to who we are, and running our sets, being precise with our cuts and our screens, making sure we were [passing] and boxing out. Those little things that make a ten-point lead go to a thirty-point lead.”
Referring to the second half, Keefe observed, “We kept the gas down and we just kept applying pressure. Our defense is really what killed us last game, and we just kept playing great defense, getting steals and buckets.” He added, “I think our team is super good in transition. When we play good defense, it leads to transition, which we excel.”
The Cubs face Etiwanda High School next Saturday at 6:00 pm. Peters stated, “Etiwanda is a tough team. They’re very well coached, they have a Hall-of-Fame coach over there. We’re gonna do our best to come out defensively and try to run the ball over them if we can. Of course, we’re gonna try to get more buckets and try to get more stops. I think what’s gonna be key to this is for us to be patient and not take shots early into the shot clock.” Keefe explained, “We’ll watch film all week next week. We’ll work hard in practice, have a couple good practices. We’ll be ready to play, they’ll be ready for us as well. It should be a fun game and I’m looking forward to it.” Jones said, “We’ll probably put in a few new sets. They’re a really good team from what I’ve heard. They’ll really test how good we are.”
Stats:
The Cubs got a total of 28 rebounds, 20 assists, 8 steals, 5 blocks, and 15 turnovers. They shot 15/20 (75%) from the free throw line, 27/48 (56%) from the field, and 8/15 (53%) from three.