Notre Dame Rides Jones’ 36 Points to League Title, 81-72

Like most shooters, Brian Jones of Notre Dame High hopes to begin each game with a hot hand. But early in a San Fernando Valley League showdown against Bell-Jeff on Tuesday, the 6-foot-4 senior was as cold as the chilly night air.

After all, it is not often that Jones misses an uncontested slam-dunk attempt, but that’s what happened only two minutes into the game at Notre Dame.

Gliding downcourt, Jones took off about 10 feet from the basket, put the ball in his left hand and wound up from the hip, only to have the ball clank off the back of the rim.

“I just didn’t get a good grip on the ball,” Jones said. “It slipped as I was going up.”

But the missed dunk was Jones’ only visible mistake as he scored a career-high 36 points--on 13-of-20 shooting--as the Knights defeated Bell-Jeff, 81-72.

The win was the 11th in a row for Notre Dame (15-8, 9-0 in league play), and gave the school the first basketball title awarded in the fledgling San Fernando Valley League.

After his missed dunk, Jones hit four of his next six shots as Notre Dame streaked to a 25-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, capped by Morgan Hall’s length-of-the-court bank shot at the buzzer.

After hitting 8 of 18 shots in the first quarter, Notre Dame caught fire in the second period, making 8 of 11.

Many of Notre Dame’s baskets were either layups or shots within five feet of the hoop, most of which came after the Knights broke the Bell-Jeff press.

“We wanted to attack their press,” said Jones, who entered the game averaging 26 points. “We wanted to be the aggressors. We wanted to dictate the pace of the game.”

After working that strategy to perfection in the first half, Notre Dame slowed the pace midway through the third quarter, allowing Bell-Jeff (19-3, 7-2) to climb back into the game.

With Nick Sanderson scoring 13 of his 26 points in the third period, the Guards trimmed a 24-point deficit to 16 at the end of the quarter, 61-45.

Chris Dyer (22 points) led the Guards’ charge in the fourth period, scoring 10 points during a 14-6 run that cut Notre Dame’s lead to 67-59 with four minutes remaining.

“I knew they’d make a run some time,” Notre Dame Coach Mick Cady said. “But I also knew we had a good team that could repel it.”

Sure enough, Kenny Hicks (12 points) and Jones came to the rescue. Hicks hit a jump shot and Jones connected on a three-point shot to give the Knights a 72-59 lead with three minutes remaining.

Bell-Jeff never got closer than nine points thereafter. The ability to break the press and a hawking defense helped Notre Dame to a 43-23 halftime lead.

The Knights did an outstanding job on Sanderson, holding him to four points in the first two quarters on 2-of-9 shooting.

“We wanted to make him put the ball on the floor,” Jones said. “That’s where he was suspect. We didn’t want to let him have uncontested shots where he could set up and shoot.”

Mike Rimkunas added 15 points for Notre Dame.