skip navigation

Wildcats Suffer Narrow Loss to Lake Catholic

By Kurt Pickering '21, 12/31/18, 1:00PM EST

Share

The Saint Ignatius Wildcats surged into the 6th game of the 2018-19 season against an underestimated Lake Catholic Cougars on Saturday. Coming off of a two game losing streak, the Wildcats needed a win to keep the team’s record above .500.

In the end, it was not meant to be, as the Wildcats fell narrowly to Lake Catholic, 71-68.  

After a low scoring first quarter, the Wildcats trailed the Cougars, 15-12 after a strong 8 points on the board for Kevin Davet. Lake Catholic’s strong forward, Luke Frazier, poured in a solid 12 points with chip-ins from the 6’7 forward Luka Eller.

Headed into the half, the Wildcats trailed, 30-25, with only 13 points in the quarter for the Wildcats. The team needed a well-needed strong 2nd half to push the Wildcats ahead of the Cougars and pick up their 4th win of the season. A strong second quarter effort by the Wildcat backcourt from Chase Toppin and Lukas Bielek boded well for the blue and gold.

Unfamiliar to a second half scoreboard deficit, the Wildcats pushed the defensive tempo with strong double teams. However, nothing worked for the men of Coach Brian Becker ‘77, as the Cougars put up an outstanding 30 points to push the lead to 60-38. As all hope seemed to be lost, enter the Wildcat sharpshooters for a miraculous comeback.

The Wildcats shifted into small lineup and a fullcourt press for the fourth quarter. Saint Ignatius gradually trimmed a 25-point lead to a 3-point deficit, thanks to exceptional outside shooting a great defense.

Following a nice sequence on defense, the Wildcats had a chance in the closing seconds to tie it. However, the Basketball Cats missed two potential tying shots to suffer a loss to the Cougars.