Athletics outlast Cardinals
Published 10:53 pm Monday, January 13, 2014
The Lyle-Pacelli boys basketball team went on a roller coaster ride that ended with them beating LeRoy-Ostrander 52-46 in Pacelli Gym Monday.
The Cardinals (1-10 overall, 0-8 SEC) put together a 9-0 spurt in a span of just two minutes to tie the game up at 42-42, but the Athletics (4-8 overall, 4-6 SEC) had an answer. LP’s Mark Manyuon drew a foul and hit two free throws to make it 44-42 with 1:31 left and Noah Jiskra drew a foul and hit two free throws to make it 46-42 with 1:09 left.
Manyoun, a sophomore who had 10 points and four assists, put the game away down the stretch as he went 6-for-8 on free throws in the last two minutes.
“I was confident, but they made us work for it,” said Manyoun. “We’re always getting better. This helps us [younger players] get more prepared for the years to come. There’s not a lot of sophomores who start.”
The game was a close one throughout, but LP looked to be pulling away when Braden Kocer hit a jump shot to make it 39-33 and Jiskra hit a base-line 3-pointer on a dish from Kocer to make it 42-33 with 3:53 left.
The Cards answered as LO’s Zach Royston converted a 3-point play and Nate Bunne collected two steals and hit six straight free throws to tie things up at 42. Bunne finished with 15 points and Royston had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, who have lost eight in a row.
LP looked to be in trouble early in the game as it trailed 9-2 with Kocer and Jordan Hart both saddled with foul trouble. Sophomore Jordan Cotter came in and made a big impact as he scored eight points during a 12-2 LP run that saw them go up 14-11 with eight minutes left in the half.
Cotter scored all 14 of his points in the first half and he also had a key blocked shot with a minute left in the game to help conserve LP’s win.
“When you see everybody’s not really into it, you want to do something about it,” Cotter said.
LP head coach Dean DeBoer liked how his team responded to its late adversity.
“It was a good to win a close game. That’s something we’ve struggled with so far this year. We kept our composure after they tied it up,” he said. “For us to play that way and erase that deficit was big. Jordan really shot the ball well and kept us in the game.”
The Athletics used ten players in the win and six of them scored at least six points.
“I thought we took a step forward,” DeBoer said. “Our bench guys are coming in and giving us energy and valuable minutes.”
LO 24 22 — 46
LP 26 26 — 52
LP scoring: Jordan Cotter, 14; Mark Manyuon, 10; Braden Kocer, 7; Noah Jiskar, 7; Brennen Ruis, 6; Jordan Hart, 6; Brady Lester, 2; free throws: 74 percent (17-for-23); rebounds: 32 (Cotter, 6; Hart, 6; Jiskra, 6); turnovers: 21
LO scoring: Zach Royston, 16; Nate Bunne, 15; Ryan Kasel, 5; Josh Royston, 5; Taylor Meyer, 1; Craig Wheeler, 2; Jacob Souhrada, 1; free throws: 55 percent (16-for-29); rebounds: 33 (Josh Royston, 10); turnovers: 19