St. Edward routs IC Catholic Prep for tournament championship
With possibly three more meetings still to come, St. Edward and IC Catholic Prep better get used to seeing each other this season.
The Green Wave definitely could get used to basketball games like Tuesday's.
St. Edward's boys team rolled to the championship of the ICCP/Westmont Christmas Tournament with a 58-41 victory over the Knights in Westmont.
The Green Wave (13-2) never trailed after the four minute mark of the first quarter and built a 21-point advantage in the fourth. Sophomore guard Kelvin Cortez-Harvey led a dominant effort at both ends by scoring a game-high 21 points, with a good chunk of it resulting from 18 turnovers by the Knights.
"It was a really good win for us," Cortez-Harvey said. "We focused as a team to get steals and play good defense and stop them because they're a really good scoring team."
St. Edward seized command with a 17-3 run coming out of halftime. That put the game out of reach at 47-27 late in the third quarter, especially with IC Catholic Prep (8-4) unable to make any kind of run while shooting at a 30-percent clip.
The Knights didn't make a third-quarter field goal until Troy Burrows, who scored 10 points, knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"They know a lot of what we do and we know what they're doing," said Knights coach T.J. Tyrrell. "But right now we're struggling with the adversity of being down and teams going on runs, and being able to add value to possessions and work through that."
The Knights have plenty of shots at redemption against the Green Wave. Not only will the longtime Suburban Christian Conference rivals meet twice in Metro Suburban West Conference action, they also might play in the Class 2A Lisle regional.
"It's definitely a step up for us," said Green Wave senior Nick Duffy, who scored 10 points. "We've just got to keep it up. Keep working hard in practice."
There were three lead changes and three ties in the first quarter as the Knights' Rhashaun Epting scored all 10 of his points in the opening frame. Leading 19-16 after a quarter, the Green Wave allowed only 25 points the rest of the game.
"I think switching out of the zones confused them a little bit, but their shots weren't on," said St. Edward coach P.J. White. "Last night they were 80 percent in the first half. They weren't 80 percent in the first half tonight, so thank goodness for that. You've got to give our defense a little bit of credit for that."
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