Prep Basketball BOYS : Notre Dame Rally Falls Short and Loyola Wins It

In its first Del Rey League outing, Loyola High managed to stifle a furious rally late in the final quarter to hold on and beat host Notre Dame, 57-53, in front of a capacity crowd Friday night.

The win brings the Cubs’ overall record to 3-7, while the Knights drop to 0-2 in league and 3-8 overall.

Loyola was playing its first League game because its game with Alemany Wednesday night was postponed due to a Bingo game at the Alemany gym. The game is rescheduled for tonight. Notre Dame visits St. Francis next Tuesday in another Del Rey League game.

The Cubs were led by 6-3 junior Mark Tilson, who led all scorers with 20 points. John Perak had a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame made only 7 of 32 shots in the first half and was down by 20 points midway through the third period. The Knights battled back when Perak came off the bench to score 11 points in the final two quarters.

Notre Dame came within three points of the Cubs with 1:47 left. With Loyola leading, 55-53, junior Joel Almeida hit his second and third straight free throws with two seconds left to cap the victory for Loyola.

Loyola jumped out to an early lead behind Tilson, who scored eight points in the first period. Loyola led 17-4 entering the second quarter. Notre Dame couldn’t stop Tilson, who scored 13 points in the first half.