For three periods Dec. 9, the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions and Cardinal Huskies battled for all they were worth, using short runs and stifling defenses to battle.
For three periods Dec. 9, the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions and Cardinal Huskies battled for all they were worth, using short runs and stifling defenses to battle.
Then, as the Huskies hit on half of their 12 fourth-period shots — normally a winning effort in a close contest — the Lions went on a rampage of sorts, hitting on 10 of 12 shots in a rally that led to a 68-59 nonconference victory in early season action.
After an 11-2 run to close out the third period had given Cardinal a 42-41 edge heading into the final eight minutes of the game, first-year Lions Head Coach Pat Vuyancih told his go-to guy, Evan Dugger, to shoot if the shots were there. He did.
“We finally settled down in the fourth period,” Vuyancih said. “Coach (Jon) Cummins just did so much with a great game plan tonight. In the third period, their trapping defense really had us on our heels and messed up our rhythm, but we have some good kids on our team.
“Evan (Dugger) can shoot the ball well, but his early shots weren’t dropping. I told him coming out for the last quarter that he should just keep shooting if he got open chances, and he did. That got us going, and our defense and rebounding kept us in the game until we heated up in the fourth period.”
Dugger’s hot hand in the fourth period, when he nailed five of six shots, including four in a row from beyond the arc, leading to a 20 point night. Connor Hernan chipped in 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Noah Rogers, expected to provide inside presence for the Lions this season, added 15 points and 16 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.
Hernan and Rogers kept the Lions close until they got hot in the fourth period. They paced NDCL (3-1) to a decisive 46-26 edge on the boards, and that fact limited the Huskies (2-2) in opportunities. Fifteen of NDCL’s rebound total came on the offensive glass as well.
The final-period torching of the Cardinal nets led to a 25-of-60 effort for the game, showing how well the Huskies played defense all night long.
Rogers said it well about his big game.
“We’ve worked really hard in practice under Coach Vuyancih,” he said. “Finally, in the second half, the hard work we put in in practice finally started to show us its rewards. Cardinal is a very good team.”
The Huskies battled.
After Dugger opened the scoring with a three-pointer, Cardinal opened an 11-5 lead; Troy Domen had three steals that he finished at the basket. NDCL responded to tie the game at 13-13 after one period.
The Huskies went four-of-20 from the floor in the second period as the Lions dominated the boards, but the roles were reversed until the late spurt to end the third period happened. Then came the fateful fourth period.
“This was really a good game to be part of,” Cummins said. “We just need to rebound better. We didn’t do well tonight in that area. We didn’t do a good job of team rebounding, and it hurt us down the stretch.”
The Huskies also had a trio of players in double digits in scoring. Domen was a force all night defensively, and his six steals put him on course for a 20 point night. His force at both ends of the floor showed up in that he also had a hand in half of the 14 Cardinal baskets, as he had seven assists.
Jake Bean was hounded all night as well, but still finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Paul Gall recorded a double-double with 14 point and 10 rebounds. His efforts going to the basket in the third period helped his team to finish strong as he tallied six points in the period, but then came the fourth period of hot shooting for the Lions, and the Huskies didn’t have enough energy over the last five minutes of the game to stay close.
