JOURNAL STAFF
Loyola used a second-half rally to claim a 53-45 non-district win at Red River Wednesday night.
The Flyers and Bulldogs battled through a sloppy first half with the two teams combining to score 36 points as Red River took a 23-13 lead into the locker room at the break.
Jacob Lafitte hit his stride for Loyola in the third quarter, scoring eight of his 15 point,s and the Flyers limited the Bulldogs to just two points to take a 29-25 lead into the final period.
Cage Van Norman scored all 9 of his points for Loyola in the fourth quarter and the Flyers hit on 12 of 14 free throws to hold off a Bulldog push, outscoring the hosts 24-20.
“It was a great comeback,” Loyola coach Ben Schonfarber said. “It was a big win for us. We’ve won three straight now. Our guys played well inside, and they hit from outside, and that brought the victory.”
Tray Taylor was also in double-digits for Loyola with 11 points.
Loyola is now 13-17 and will travel to Baton Rouge for the start of the playoffs next week. Schonfarber said he thought they would play either University Lab or Liberty.
For Red River (14-14) A. Williams scored all 12 of the Bulldogs points in the first quarter and finished with 23. Devin McDonald scored 11 with 8 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
GIRLS
Loyola had a tough time getting on track in its Division II first round playoff game in New Orleans as Ursuline prevailed 53-34.
The fifth-seeded Lions led 22-14 at the half and outscored the Flyers 14-2 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
Loyola, the 12 seed, was led in scoring by Genevieve Carmody with 11 points and Tiffany Siharath and Kate Fortune both tossed in 8 points. The Flyers finished their season with a 15-14 record.
Photo by JOHN BREWER
