Loyola Presses Harvard, Pulls Out 71-62 Victory

Just ask Tonya Harding or the Harvard-Westlake High basketball team.

It’s hard to avoid the press.

Loyola pressed and trapped the Wolverines into turnover after turnover and beat Harvard, 71-62, in a Mission League game Wednesday night at Loyola.

“That’s our style,” Loyola Coach Bill Thomason said. “We have to make them play a full-court game. If we play two half-court games, we just get posted up to death.”

That posting-up-to-death would have been done by Harvard’s 6-foot-7 twins, Jason and Jarron Collins, but the freshmen got into foul trouble, each collecting three in the first half to complicate matters at both ends of the floor.

“We break the press with the big guys,” Harvard Coach Greg Hilliard said. “Most of those turnovers were passes to Jason and he was afraid to go hard after it (because of the fouls). But they’re young.”

The Wolverines’ chances for a Mission League championship were all but ended with the loss. Harvard (18-2, 8-2 in league) has lost twice to Loyola (15-5, 10-0).

But the Cubs’ press was not so effective in the first meeting.

“They trapped more this time,” senior Scott Garson said. “This defense is really tenacious. Maybe they were fired up playing in their gym.”

Garson was one of the bright spots for Harvard. He scored 25 points. Jason Collins added 16 points and Jarron Collins had 12 and 10 rebounds.

Junior Moose Bailey scored 24 points and senior Toby Bailey, his brother who is headed to UCLA, had 23 for Loyola.

The Wolverines dominated the early part of the game, capping a 13-0 run from the opening tip with a dunk by Jason Collins.

Loyola then employed its press and pared the lead, mostly because of a hot-shooting half by Moose Bailey, who had 18 points at the break.

The Cubs tied the score, 32-32, on a put-back by Bobby Thomason in the closing seconds of the half.

Loyola started the second half by jumping to 47-38 lead, taking advantage of turnovers and the Collins twins’ foul trouble.

Harvard, which had not allowed more than 65 points all season, settled down and pulled back to within, 60-58, in the fourth quarter, but again, turnovers cost the Wolverines as Loyola bumped the lead to 67-60 with 2 minutes 30 seconds to play.