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Elmwood Park junior forward Adrian Lach, was more of a distributor than a scorer in the first half against neighborhood rival Guerin.

But when he began launching his shots, he helped keep the Crusaders at bay with nine of his 14 points in the third quarter to maintain a double-digit lead going into the fourth.

Lach collected 11 second-half points in a 52-41 Metro Suburban East win on Friday, Dec. 4 at Holy Cross.

“In the first half, I was getting the ball to the teammates,” Lach said. “In the second half, I was getting more opportunities and I was able to take advantage of them.”

Tigers coach Anthony Sylvester is counting on Lach for those type of performances.

“He was a varsity player last year and we lean on him heavily on both sides of the ball,” Sylvester said.

Elmwood Park led wire-to-wire, but found it difficult to shake off its crosstown foe.

The Tigers (3-2, 1-1) started hot against the Crusaders (0-6, 0-2) and led 16-3 after the first quarter, thanks to three 3-pointers and a strong 2-3 zone defense that befuddled the home team for long stretches.

“We shot the ball well to start the game and we were fired up and that’s what we need. It’s good for these players to build confidence,” Sylvester said.

The Tigers led by as many as 16 before the Crusaders started chipping away in the second half. Using better ball movement, they were able to penetrate the Tigers’ zone.

While the Tigers managed some small runs, the Crusaders kept whittling at the lead. After cutting the Tigers’ advantage to six midway through the fourth, the Crusaders seized momentum.

That’s when Lach picked up his offense.

After the Tigers passed around the perimeter, Lach took the ball near the baseline and beat Crusaders forward Keith Franklin with a strong move to the left and finished with a layup to seal the victory.

“After that I felt like we were back in control,” Lach said. “Just have to keep calm.”

Lach made several key defensive stops in the second half despite being saddled with three fouls. He also forced the Crusaders to run their offense from the perimeter even though they were looking to get the ball inside.

Senior forward Fode Bah led the Tigers with 15 points and senior guard Gustavo Alvarez had 11. Junior guard Jake Sulaski, who finished with nine points, went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, pacing a solid 16 of 24 from the stripe for Elmwood Park.

For Guerin, Franklin led all scorers with 17 points and five rebounds and junior forward Richie Zacharias had seven points and four rebounds.

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Chris Vavra is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.