By Robbie Loeb
The first of two matchups between league foes Harvard-Westlake and Loyola ended with a 64-54 victory for the Cubs. The final score does not accurately reflect the back-and-forth nature of the rivalry game, however, as Loyola finished the game with a late scoring surge.
The Wolverines started off well in their first high-profile matchup without starting small forward Josh Hearlihy ’12, ahead 9-8 at the end of the opening quarter. Hearlihy averaged 16 points in the six games he’s played but could be sidelined for the remainder of the season, Los Angeles Times varsity times insider Eric Sondheimer reported today.
“He will tell you that he’s going to be back next week,” Head Coach Greg Hilliard said. “The doctor says they’re going to examine him next week and if the process they used healed him, he’ll be back, but if it didn’t, he could be out for the year.”
At the end of the first half, the Cubs, ranked fourth in the state by MaxPreps, trailed 24-22.
“We concentrated on handling their press, and despite the fact that we had 13 turnovers in the first half and they had three, I though we did a pretty good job of looking up the court and getting some easy buckets, which gave us a chance to get a little bit of a lead,” Hilliard said. “We softened their press a little bit, but then unfortunately, late in the second quarter, they got confidence again in that press.”
With five minutes left in the third quarter, Loyola regained the lead at 28-27. Two minutes later, the Wolverines were suddenly down 8 after the Loyola crowd sparked its team to a 38-30 lead. But the Wolverines would not give up so easily. Shooting guard Francis Hyde ’13 nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 40-38 at the end of the third.
The Wolverines scored first in the fourth quarter to knot the game up at 40, but Loyola surged to take a 56-49 lead with a minute and a half left in the contest. The Wolverines retaliated with a 3-pointer by point guard Michael Sheng ’14, after forcing a turnover with their aggressive full court press defense. But the Wolverines couldn’t complete their attempt at a clutch comeback after an out-of-bounds call didn’t go their way, which led to bucket and four point lead for the Cubs. Despite star point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who was hobbled by a bruised thigh, shooting just 27 percent and scoring 8 points, the Cubs would hold their lead the rest of the way.
For the Cubs, Julian Harrell and Jacob Hazzard each tallied 17 points and Justin Childress added 14.
Center Zena Edosomwan ’12 led all scorers in the game with 19.
The game was played at California State University, Los Angeles because past matchups between the Wolverines and the Cubs have been packed beyond maximum capacity.
The Wolverines now stand at 2-2 in league, dropping their second straight after falling 44-42 at the hands of Chaminade last night. Chaminade guard Jaron Martin, who scored 30 points, hit a game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds left to sink the Wolverines.
“After playing so poorly against Chaminade, I think the team’s competitiveness and how we went after this game in this kind of environment with really good to see because I think we let ourselves down and everybody down with the way we competed against Chaminade,” Hilliard said. “I think today, fortunately we found our way back but we didn’t produce a ‘W.’”
The Wolverines face off against Crespi next Friday.
“Our only chance to be in the league race is to win almost every game left,” Hilliard said.
