Their season records coming into Tuesday night’s Chicagoland Christian Conference opener might not have indicated it, but when undefeated Bishop McNamara welcomed sub-.500 Hope Academy to Kankakee, the Fightin’ Irish were the ones looking to make a statement.

But after a first quarter that saw five ties and six lead changes, the defending IHSA Class 1A State champion Eagles surged ahead early in the second quarter, fended off a few Irish runs and then pulled away in the fourth quarter to down McNamara 70-51, putting an end to the Irish’s seven-game winning streak to open the season.

McNamara coach Adrian Provost said he knew that the Eagles (3-4) started the season banged up, and also that Tuesday’s tilt was their first game with their entire lineup, providing a quality early-season tests in both the Chicagoland Christian Conference and home opener for the Irish.

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Basketball: Bishop McNamara vs. Hope Academy Bishop McNamara's Ian Irps, left, and Karter Krutsinger reach for a rebound during the Fightin' Irish's 70-51 loss to Hope Academy on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 (Tiffany Blanchette)

“It’s good for us,” Provost said. “If you have 100% control of your schedule you’re not going to pick Hope to be your first home game. They’re really good.

" ... I thought we did some good things, just had a couple kids not perform to the level they’re capable of for whatever reason. We’ve had a long couple weeks, but that’s fine. It’s good for us. If we want to make any type of run in February, that’s long too."

Both teams traded haymakers in the opening frame before All-State point guard Tyjuan Hunter’s late 3-pointer was enough to give the Eagles a 19-18 lead after McNamara’s Callaghan O’Connor’s buzzer-beating putback.

That lead swole to 28-18 when the Eagles opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run, with the first Irish basket in the second stanza coming from O’Connor with 3:38 left in the first half. They closed the gap to 28-23 when Gavin Antons buried a 3-pointer a minute later but never got any closer than four points in the second half.

“We didn’t take care of the ball well enough, but at times we moved it really well,” Provost said. “We didn’t finish, we didn’t knock down shots like we normally do. In the first two and a half quarters I thought we had some good looks and just didn’t make any of them. That’s fine, sometimes it doesn’t go in, and Hope had something to do with that.”

Despite some offensive woes – the Irish shot 17-of-48 (35%) and had 13 turnovers – they were more than in it when Hope held a 51-45 lead after the third. But a trio of triples from Tyrone Hueston helped the Eagles outscore the Irish 19-6 in the final frame.

Hunter, who missed the first two games of the year with injury, led all scorers with 18 points, dished 10 assists, grabbed six rebounds and swept four steals. He said the team’s defense set the tone early on, which is exactly how they practice and prepare.

“Getting this win is big. Our first conference game, all the way in Kankakee, a good crowd, good gym,” Hunter said. “ … We knew on the road we had to get more stops and make more defensive stops. We knew if we got stops, the offense would come later on."

O’Connor scored had 12 of his team-high 16 points in the first half for McNamara, adding three rebounds and an assist. Karter Krutsinger scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half after an 0-for-6 start from the field. He grabbed seven boards and had two assists. Richie Darr had 13 points and seven rebounds.

“It’s obviously the most talented team we’ve seen so far and that’s good for us,” Provost said. “I told the kids that we’re 0-1 in conference, but all that means is we’re 0-1 in conference. We did some nice things, but we didn’t perform the way that we’re capable of, and a lot of that was due to Hope. Hopefully we’ll learn from it and get back to work tomorrow.”