WHEELING — The Notre Dame boys basketball team saw an eight-point lead in the first quarter disappear, as Lake Park rallied for a 62-52 victory Saturday night in the championship game of the 37th annual Wheeling Hardwood Classic.
With junior forward Simon Lucas scoring nine of his 11 points in the first quarter, the Dons (10-2) raced out to a 19-11 advantage. Notre Dame maintained a 27-20 edge with three minutes remaining in the half, but Lake Park senior guard Marcus McDaniel (19 points) scored his team’s final nine points to send the game to intermission at 29-29.
Lake Park (14-2) took command in the third quarter, hitting three three-pointers and 7-of-10 field goals. Ammar Becar (17 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots) gave the Dons some life when he hit a three-pointer from just inside half court as the buzzer sounded to end the third. That cut Lake Park’s lead to 46-39.
Elvin Husejnovic brought Notre Dame within 46-42 on a three-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth, but Lake Park went on a 9-3 run to put the game away.
“We let up on defense and they went on a run,” Becar said. “We didn’t punch back. We just didn’t come out [in the second half] with a sense of urgency.”
He added: “We got up because we were running our plays early, but then we started doing a little too much one-on one.”
Senior Joe Mooney, the tournament MVP, had 15 points for the Dons, but he was only 4-for-12 from the field. Mooney finished as the tournament’s high scorer with 83 points (20.8 points per game) and was 17-of-19 from the free-throw line. He also led all players with 11 steals.
“I played pretty good in the tournament, but I couldn’t knock down my shot [tonight],” Mooney said. “The MVP is nice, but we came here to win the tournament. This was tough.”
Becar also made the all-tournament team, averaging 13.3 points and 6 rebounds.
“They both played really well,” Notre Dame coach Tom Les said. “They’re the keys to our team, but we need five guys.”
Notre Dame was seeking it’s third championship (2010, 2012) in five years. Leading up to the tournament final, the Dons had beaten Buffalo Grove 70-37, Prospect 49-42 and Naperville Central 48-41.