It may have only been the second game of each of their seasons, but Bishop McNamara, St. Anne, Herscher and Reed-Custer may have all played some of their closest games they’ll have all year at the Herscher Thanksgiving Tournament on Tuesday.

In a pair of back-and-forth battles that saw a combined 20 lead changes and 13 ties, the Fightin’ Irish pulled away late from St. Anne, turning a late tie into a 58-50 victory before Herscher got a buzzer-beater to force overtime against Reed-Custer, where the host Tigers prevailed 58-55.

In the opener, the Cardinals set the tone with their 2-3 defense that forced 22 McNamara turnovers, using it to fuel a 10-0 first quarter run that put them ahead 12-8 after a quarter.

Coen Demack’s bucket with 3:50 left in the first half set the stage for six lead changes in the quarter, the final of which came when the Cardinals’ Grant Pomaranski gave the Cardinals a 25-24 lead with a minute left that they took to the half.

After a sluggish start in Tuesday’s overtime loss to Reed-Custer, Cardinals coach Rick Schoon saw a much fresher effort from his senior-heavy squad that has four pivotal core pieces back from last year.

“We were much more active tonight, got a lot of hands on passes and were much more active defensively,” Schoon said. “For the kids to come out and believe in themselves, that’s what we need to see early on.”

The Irish opened the second half on a 9-3 run that was kickstarted by a Richie Darr 3-pointer, taking a 41-39 lead to the fourth quarter. The Cardinals again responded, knotting it up at 47 on a Jason Blyle 3-pointer with five minutes to go, but after that, the Irish took over down the stretch.

After Callaghan O’Connor snagged an offensive board and fed Demack for a game-tying layup, Demack split a pair of free throws, with Darr grabbing the rebound and finding O’Connor to make it 50-47 Irish, setting the stage for the 13-3 run they ended the game on.

“We got the ball inside a lot and worked it out,” said Darr, who tied O’Connor with a team-high 15 points. “We also played decent defense, got some good blocks at the end of the game and then got in transition.”

For the Irish to have had such a sloppy start and still be able to find a way to claw back against a talented Cardinals team was a great early-season sign for O’Connor, a four-year starter at center.

“We’ve just got to get in a groove and figure ourselves out,” O’Connor said. “It helps playing a good team and to do it against a good team. Our conference (the Chicagoland Christian Conference) has a bunch of state contenders, so it was a really good thing to see.”

The Irish will finish their tournament against Reed-Custer on Friday. Coach Adrian Provost said that while the locker room didn’t feel so victorious after a difficult night, the fact is they’re 2-0.

“It was a pretty down locker room because it felt like a loss, but we’re 2-0 and we won the basketball game,” Provost said. “It’s a good thing, go have a good Thanksgiving and we’ll be back at it. Credit to St. Anne. They played really well, we did not and turned it over.”

Blye had 13 points for the Cardinals (1-1). Pomaranski and Matthew Langellier each had 10 points. St. Anne will play Herscher in Friday’s tournament finale.

Hot-shooting Herscher tops Reed-Custer in OT

As entertaining as Wednesday’s matinee was, the nightcap was even more of a thriller. After Reed-Custer stormed ahead with an early 9-0 run, Herscher hit six 3-pointers in the first half and stayed ahead 16-14 after a quarter and 27-25 at the half.

Those tight scores were a sign of things to come in a game that was tense throughout, with Alek Draper’s 3-pointer at the fourth quarter buzzer sending things to overtime, where Austin Buckley buried the 10th Tigers triple – his fourth – to give the Tigers a 56-54 lead in the final seconds that turned into a 58-55 victory.

“We just stayed together as a group and really worked hard,” Buckley said. “We knew we could all do it. We’re really senior-heavy, but our juniors know how to do it too.”

Both teams had three players finish in double figures, with Buckley’s 16 points leading all scorers. But as the Comets began adjusting to the Tigers’ outside shooting, Tanner Jones and Tyler Lundberg found room to operate inside. They each scored eight points in the second half and overtime, with Jones tallying 11 points and Lundberg 10 for Herscher (1-1).

“They started guarding the 3 heavy, so I started flashing a little more,” Lundberg said. “Dylan (Bright) was good with the fake pass so I could get down.”

While Buckley’s 3-point presence has been in effect for years, Draper’s 3 that caused overtime was a full circle moment. A driver/slasher type for the first three years of his career, Tigers coach Drew Boudreau said Draper wanted to add an outside threat to his game in the offseason.

“You’ve just got to have confidence and a prime example of that is Alek Draper, who was not a great 3-point shooter the past three years,” Boudreau said. “He told me over the summer he wanted to work on that and I told him tonight that I’d say it worked out pretty well for him.”

Wednesday was the second overtime game in as many nights for the Comets (1-1), who bested St. Anne 47-46 Tuesday. With no seniors in their starting five, a trio of sophomores led them in scoring Wednesday. Matthew Kuban had 13 points, followed by a dozen from Chase Isaac and 11 from Kaden Klein.

“A crazy tournament so far,” Comets coach Tyler Schoonover said. “We’re a very young team – we start four sophomores and a junior, so not a lot of experience. A bunch of gamers we have. They don’t know better other than to just come out and play. … I’m very excited from what I saw with the growth."