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Boys Basketball: Bishop Noll seals it at the line
Updated: January 21, 2012 10:31PM
GARY — Conventional wisdom says you have to hit your free throws to win a tight ballgame. Bishop Noll proved it once again as the Warriors hit 21 of 24 from the stripe to squeeze out a 55-48 victory over Lake Station in the Greater South Shore Conference tournament championship.
“Every practice, we do one-and-one’s at the end and if you miss the first, we do suicides and everyone has to make two before we go home,” said Bishop Noll coach Drew Trost. “We did a lot of running early on, but we seem to be catching on.”
A combination of tight defense, tired legs, and short benches kept the scoring low in the first half. Lake Station point guard Dwayne Haden scored 10 points in the half to stake the Eagles to a 23-20 advantage.
“Haden can get some people lay-ups off the dribble and score it himself,” said Lake Station coach Bryon Clouse. “And defensively, not many people can get around him.”
The game’s big turning point came in the third quarter courtesy of Bishop Noll’s trap defense and center Jose Rosario. The Warriors pressured the Eagles into five turnovers in the half’s first four minutes, keying a 12-5 run to start the half. Rosario scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the third quarter to give Bishop Noll the 40-32 lead.
“(Jose’s) really worked hard on his post moves and his footwork,” said Trost.
“He’s gotten to the point where a few colleges are starting to look at him.”
Lake Station (9-4) tied the game twice in the fourth quarter behind a pair of 3-pointers from Ricky Garcia, who led the Eagles with 14 points. But Bishop Noll (13-0) hit nine of 10 free throws to close out the contest.
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