St. Joseph 53 vs. Lincoln Park 50
Coach Gene Pingatore and his St Joseph Chargers beat Lincoln Park today at Loyola University's Gentile Center behind the stellar play of junior shooting guard Nate Rogers. In just his third varsity start Rogers poured in 15 big points and played lock-down defense on Lincoln Park's star guard Jeremy Montgomery, holding him to 6 of 24 shooting.
"Coach kept asking me when I was going to score," said Rogers. "Today I had to take it upon myself to go out and make shots. It means a lot to be player of the game, I wasn't expecting all of
this. Defense got me confident on offense and I just went with it"
Rogers isn't very well known amongst basketball fans around Illinois, as he played on St. Joseph's sophomore team last season, and was not a starter on the varsity team this season until senior guard Malcom Smith got injured two weeks ago. The 6-2 shooting guard showed tonight that he is ready to contribute and much more for coach Ping's Chargers.
"I like to start seniors, but I was always confident in him (Nate),"
said Pingatore. "When Malcolm (senior Malcolm Smith) got hurt and I put
Nate in the lineup he started playing well. I like Malcolm coming off
the bench, and he doesn't bitch about it."
Lincoln Park didn't go down without a fight, however, as seniors Brandon Ross and Jeremy Montgomery kept the Lions in the game until the final possession. Montgomery finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Ross added 16 points, and 12 rebounds. Both rank amongst the top unsigned seniors in the state.
"Thats the best team we've played, Diamond had his worst game of the year, and we won. Give credit to Nate, and the rest of the guys. I give Malcolm credit too," added Pingatore.
New Trier 42 vs. Loyola 39
Despite a valiant fourth quarter comeback, Loyola came up with too little too late as they fell to New Trier at Loyola University's Gentile Center. The nationally televised game proved to be a coming out party for New Trier junior guard Sean Stanley, who was starting in the absence of injured sophomore Alex Rossi.
New Trier was up 22-9 at the half and seemed to have complete control of the game from the get-go. The Trevians shot 41% from the floor (44% from 3 point) in the first half, and the Ramblers shot just 13% (0 of 9 from 3). The Trevians led by 14 going into the 4th, but the Ramlers weren't going down without a fight. Loyola went on a 20 to 7 run and closed two Rob Belcore free-throws closed the lead to just one point with 57 seconds left in the game. Solid free-throw shooting down the stretch won the game for New Trier, 42-39.
"We had a good game yesterday (against Glenbrook South) and a good half today," said New Trier Head Coach Rick Malnati. "It wasn't our defense, it was rebounding, free-throws, and other things. We had the game in hand, but I think we had more turnovers then shots in the fourth quarter. We have been great at times and tentative at times."
Stanley, a 6-0 junior was starting in the place of injured sophomore Alex Rossi, had a big game for the Trevians in his second career varsity start. He scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting (2-2 FT's), and had 2 steals with just 2 turnovers.
"Alex will come back in a week or two, and we need him back," stated Stanley. "Until then I will fill in for him as best I can. I didn't think I would have to score a lot, but when I was open I took shots and made them."
Loyola and New Trier are longtime rival schools, and todays game was just the latest in a saga of great match-up's between the schools.
"We're all good friends and we've all known each other for awhile," said Stanley. "Matt Sullivan used to play with us on New Trier feder. Both games (this one, and the January 11th game against CSL rival Evanston) are played on college courts, and we watch a lot of film. We even have our scout team play against us using their (Loyola and Evanston) plays."
James Clark led New Trier with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Stanley added 15. Junior guard Matt Sullivan paced Loyola with 12 points and 15 rebounds.