Bishop Montgomery Loses to Notre Dame : Basketball: Indiana-bound Monte Marcaccini scores 22 points to lead the visitors to a 72-57 victory.

Winning was the goal, but revenge was the motivation for forward Monte Marcaccini of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High.

Marcaccini, whose team lost twice to Bishop Montgomery last season, had game-high totals of 22 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday night to lead Notre Dame to a convincing 72-57 victory at Bishop Montgomery.

“Last year we came in here and they beat us big-time,” said Marcaccini, a 6-foot-5 senior bound for Indiana University. “We felt we had something to prove.”

With its 10th consecutive victory, Notre Dame (14-3) moved into sole possession of first place in the Mission League with a 5-0 record. Bishop Montgomery (12-2), which had a six-game winning streak snapped, fell a game off the lead at 4-1.

Bishop Montgomery played without junior guard Jayson Sanders, the team’s second-leading scorer with a 12.5 average. Sanders has the flu.

“We came out to play,” Marcaccini said. “We didn’t care who they put on the floor.”

Bishop Montgomery Coach Doug Mitchell downplayed Sanders’ absence and gave credit to Notre Dame for a balanced attack. Mitchell had hoped to hold down Marcaccini’s supporting cast, but three other Notre Dame players scored in double figures.

Guard Craig Johnson scored 18 points, including 12 in the first quarter when Notre Dame took a 19-10 lead; forward Glen Carson had 12 points and reserve forward Tom Zapata gave his team an unexpected lift by scoring 10.

“We can’t let those other guys score like that,” Mitchell said.

Bishop Montgomery suffered from a lack of balance scoring. Forward Andre English led the team with 21 points and guard Jason Jones added 17, including three 3-point shots, but the other three starters combined for only 12 points.

Bishop Montgomery had trouble penetrating Notre Dame’s 2-3 zone defense, and was hurt by 20 turnovers.

Zapata gave Notre Dame a big lift off the bench in the second half. After Bishop Montgomery had closed within 50-43 late in the third quarter, Zapata scored eight of Notre Dame’s next 10 points on close-range shots to help build the lead to 60-47 with 5:35 left to play.

Bishop Montgomery failed to score in the fourth quarter until English made a layup with 3:40 remaining. A short time later, Mitchell benched his starters.

“I thought my guys were tired,” Mitchell said. “We have a game Friday at Alemany. I wanted to save something for Friday.”

Marcaccini cautiously looked ahead to his team’s Feb. 5 game with Bishop Montgomery at Notre Dame.

“Bishop Montgomery is a tough team,” he said. “I can’t believe we pulled off such a victory. When they come to our place, I know it’s not going to be this easy.”