Just five weeks ago, Loyola looked the part of a .500 team.
They were a .500 team, in fact, heading to a holiday tournament in Florida with a 5-5 record.
Then, Ramar Evans said, “we won, we won again and then won the championship. After winning that and coming back to Chicago, we realized we can actually have a really good year.”
Evans, the leader of Loyola’s 10 seniors, actually shorted his team a victory, but forgetting one is understandable at the rate the Ramblers have been winning games recently.
Loyola’s third victory in five days in Saturday’s War on the Shore in Evanston was its 10th in a row but first against a ranked team.
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Evans, a muscular 6-foot-2 guard, suggested that No. 11 St. Patrick had better individual players following Loyola’s 69-60 victory.
Coach Tom Livatino’s Ramblers have made a habit of doing more with less over the years, and they’ll have to do so to win perhaps their biggest game of the season on Tuesday night.
A share of first place in the Catholic North will be on the line when Loyola (15-5, 6-1) hosts No. 12 Fenwick (16-4, 7-0) on Tuesday night.
“We’ve started to play a little bit more like Loyola,” Livatino said. “We have to play a certain way. If we don’t play that way, we’re not successful. We have to guard really hard and understand the game plan, and we have to run our offense full-speed.
“We’re playing with confidence and I think we understand we can be pretty good. We will see. It’s been a bit of a grind with three games in five days, but it’s that time of the year when you play more, practice less. We’ll find out more on Tuesday, but I’m proud.”
CCL down to wire: Two wins shy of its second straight 9-0 sweep of the Catholic North, Fenwick will take on its two toughest conference opponents this week.
After traveling to Loyola on Tuesday, the Friars will host young and talented DePaul Prep (16-6, 6-1) on Friday night.
Led by sophomore Perry Cowan and freshman Elliot Sieger, the Rams are 7-1 in 2016, and they were leading one of the top-ranked teams in the nation, La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere, at halftime of their eventual 70-59 loss last Saturday at DePaul Prep.
DePaul beat Loyola 61-60 on Dec. 9. The Rams will be in position for at least a share of the North title if they take care of business against Providence-St. Mel (4-12, 2-5) on Tuesday.
Quick rebound: Young’s 7-0 start in the Red West didn’t seem sustainable, not because of anything Young isn’t but what the Red West is — arguably stronger than even the Red South this season.
The Dolphins almost inevitably dropped one to North Lawndale last week, then they may have declared themselves the favorite to win the city championship by beating St. Louis’ No. 1 team on Saturday.
Young ended Chaminade’s 26-game home winning streak, rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit to record a 79-69 victory behind typically solid performances from Lucas Williamson, Javon Freeman, Xavier Castaneda and Craig Beaudion.
The Dolphins (16-5, 7-1) would win the Red West outright with victories over Marshall (7-12, 2-7) and Westinghouse (8-12, 1-8), whose misleading records are a result of playing Young, North Lawndale, Orr and Farragut twice each.
The city tournament will begin next Monday, Feb. 6, with successive rounds scheduled for Feb. 8, 10, 17 and 19.
Goodwin’s farewell: Jordan Goodwin put on a show in Peoria last March and the March before.
The Belleville Althoff senior will not give fans another encore after opting for season-ending shoulder surgery after he became his team’s all-time leading scorer (2,324 points) on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-4 St. Louis recruit told the Belleville News-Democrat he had been playing with an increasing amount of pain. He probably was the favorite to win Mr. Basketball of Illinois.
“I’m just thankful the injury is over,” Goodwin said to the News-Democrat. “I really wanted to finish my season out, but the best choice is to have surgery so I won’t hurt it any more. If I hurt it any more, I would probably ruin my career or something like that. It’s probably best to get it done.
“My shoulder’s always aching, always hurting. Sharp pain. I just can’t play through it anymore.”
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.