By Mike Miazga
The IC Catholic Prep boys basketball team split a pair of recent Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division games.
In a 56-33 win over Fenton, the Knights led 16-8 after the first quarter and 24-13 at halftime. A 24-7 run in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
Alex Meurer led the Knights with 22 points (one 3-pointer). Khali Saunders added eight points, while Kevin Cheng had seven points. Nico Gaudio had six points. Cheng also hit a 3-pointers and finished with eight assists.
IC Catholic Prep then lost a tough 47-44 MSC Blue game to Riverside-Brookfield when an R-B player banked in a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“It was a really good game,” said Knights coach TJ Tyrrell. “We needed the win to stay in the hunt for the conference title. R-B was 6-1 coming in and we were 4-3 and R-B’s only loss was to us at their place. We were very focused coming into this game. The kids were ready for the moment. It was a battle.”
Tyrrell noted his squad started off slow against R-B. “We struggled in the first half,” he said. “We had sloppy ball control and some poor turnovers. We were down four at half but regrouped after that and got everything together. There were eight lead changes in the second half. It was back and forth.”
Cheng tied the contest with his 3-pointer with a minute left in regulation. R-B went back up by two points after hitting a pair of free throws. IC Catholic Prep called timeout with 15 seconds left. The ensuing play saw Meurer hit a shot to again tie the game.
“Alex drove to the rim on an extremely smart play with 1.6 seconds left and tied the game,” said Tyrrrell. “They inbounded the ball and their guy double pumped and hit a bank-shot from half court at the buzzer to win it. It was a tough game to lose. But this was the atmosphere I was looking for. There was a sense of pride for us in the locker room afterward. The kids never gave up. This team has a high ceiling that they have not reached yet.”
Saunders had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Meurer added five points. “Alex only had five points but that included that big-time bucket. Alex locked down R-B’s top player and leading scorer and held him to eight points on 3 field goals. He did a nice job containing him.”
Cheng finished with 16 points and five rebounds. “We also had real good energy off the bench from Pat Shannon who came in and did a nice job defensively and hit a big back-door bucket on an out-of-bounds play that got the crowd energized,” Tyrrell said.
Tyrrell noted the bigger focus now is on finishing strong the rest of the way. The Knights were 14-7 overall and 4-4 in MSC Blue play after the R-B loss.
“We’re still optimistic about the season,” he said. “There still is the opportunity to beat every team in the conference and finish strong. Our focus is on preparing this team for a long playoff run. The season is going so fast. I will be sad to see it come to a close. Like I’ve said before, I enjoy everybody on this team and appreciate the opportunity to coach high-school basketball. It’s a great group of kids, especially the seniors who have been a great part of the program.”
