Boys Basketball: Clark and Morrissey not enough to overcome Rice

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Updated: March 29, 2012 4:07PM

Loyola celebrated its senior night on Tuesday, hosting Brother Rice in a Catholic League crossover game to wrap up the regular season before next week’s state playoffs get under way.

As soon as the ball was tipped, the Crusaders took over and never looked back.

Loyola (9-17, 4-6 Catholic North) missed its first 10 shots, including seven three-point attempts, while Brother Rice ripped off a 14-0 run in the game’s first five minutes to establish control.

The Ramblers didn’t go quietly, but never could fight all the way back and Brother Rice won going away 62-45, in Wilmette.

“We said that for them to win they have to shoot well,” Rice coach Pat Richardson said. “I thought our defense wasn’t that great, but they just missed. They had open shots and their good shooters just happened to miss. That was the difference tonight.”

Once Loyola got the lid off the rim, it finished the first quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to nine. Sophomore James Clarke heated up, hitting three consecutive threes in the second quarter to narrow the deficit even further, this time to 22-16 at the halfway point of the second quarter.

However, Brother Rice (16-9, 8-2 Catholic South) ripped off nine consecutive points to find a 15-point cushion again. The Crusader lead was 31-18 as Loyola finished the half a mere 5-of-20 from three-point land.

With point guards Jimmy Barista and Garrett O’Neill playing limited minutes thanks to injuries, 6-foot-7 forward Alex Majewski took over the offensive load for Rice. He scored five quick points in the third quarter to hold off yet another Loyola run, this one led by the other sophomore sharpshooter, Jack Morrissey.

After missing 7-of-8 threes in the first half, Morrissey scored 10 of his team’s 12 points in the third to keep the deficit hovering around 10 going into the final quarter. He hit a long two, then drilled another three while being fouled and made the free throw to start the fourth.

Majewski immediately answered with a three to extend the lead back to 13, then the Crusaders made 9-of-11 free throws in the last five minutes to salt away the victory.

“Coach always preaches that if they go a run that we need to answer back with a run of our own,” Majewski said. “We did a good job of that tonight. We got a couple things to work on with Marist coming up (Friday) and we have to get going into the playoffs.”

Majewski led all players with 25 points and 12 rebounds on the night. Barista finished with 15 points and six boards and Ray Rubio chipped in 10 points for Rice.

“With Jimmy struggling and Garrett getting hurt early, it was really important we started out well tonight,” Richardson said. “But Alex scored and once we got the lead, they had to gamble a lot, and we took advantage with a lot of layups and easy shots.”

Clark and Morrissey each scored 19 points and combined for nine threes for Loyola, but the rest of the team only contributed seven total points in the loss.