Boys basketball: L-P starts hot, holds off Sycamore rally for Interstate 8 win

La SALLE – On the first trip down the floor, La Salle-Peru senior London Cabrera lobbed the ball toward the basket.

Teammate Josh Senica soared above the rim, grabbed the ball and slammed it through.

“Every time I let the ball go, I know he’s going to throw that thing down,” Cabrera said. “It’s always good to see that happen, especially at the beginning of the game.”

The dunk gave the Cavaliers the momentum, sparking an 11-point run to start the game.

L-P continued to extend the lead to as many as 18 points before holding off a late Sycamore charge to secure a 44-39 Interstate 8 Conference victory.

“I think we played really well,” Cabrera said. “The first half we came out with a lot of intensity, and it started with our warmups. Everybody was clapping and being as loud as possible. After we got the win over St. Bede, it was good to keep the momentum going. We had a little flat stretch at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but we always pick it back up. I’m really proud of how everybody played.”

After Senica’s dunk, Jack Jereb, Cabrera and Seth Adams each buried 3-pointers to give L-P an 11-0 lead.

The Cavs built a 14-2 lead before taking a 25-13 halftime lead.

“I thought our defense started our offense for us tonight,” L-P coach Jim Cherveny said. “We rebounded very well early on. We got some deflections and steals that led to some easy looks. We were all sharing the ball, which makes it fun and exciting for everybody. it led to some open 3s for London and Jack.”

L-P continued to extend its lead in the third quarter, and a 7-0 run late in the period – started on a Jereb pull-up jumper and capped by a Jereb 3 – pushed the advantage to 38-20 with 1:19 left.

The Cavs led 38-22 entering the fourth.

Freshman Isaiah Feuerbach provided a spark for the Spartans in the fourth, draining a 3-pointer on their first possession.

He sank a pair of free throws and two more 3s in the quarter with the last cutting Sycamore’s deficit to single digits at 42-35 with 3:44 left.

Sycamore cut it to 42-39 with two minutes left when Teague Hallahan scored after an L-P turnover under the Spartans’ basket.

“It was a disappointing start, but we were able to come back,” Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin said. “We had all sophomores and freshmen in the game and they did a great job of continuing to fight and put us in a position to win.

“We just played with a little bit more aggression. We were able to get 50-50 balls that weren’t going our way originally. It came back for us in a good way and I thought our guys responded.”

The Spartans forced another turnover under the basket but couldn’t convert, and L-P missed the front end of three one-and-ones, but Sycamore couldn’t get any closer.

“We got it to three, and we had about four chances to either tie it or get within one, and unfortunately the ball just didn’t bounce our way at the end,” Franklin said. “I thought we got every look we wanted. The guys did a good job, it just wasn’t our night to finish.”

Senica grabbed rebounds on Sycamore’s final two misses and hit a pair of free throws with 5.1 seconds left to end L-P’s 6:40 scoring drought and ice the win.

“For the first 3 1/2 quarters we played really well,” Cherveny said. “We had a little mental lapse for two or three minutes in the fourth quarter, but a lot of credit to Sycamore for having a never-say-die attitude. They hit some big shots, got some momentum and forced some turnovers.”

Adams led the Cavs (16-10, 5-5 I-8) with 13 points, Senica had 10, Jereb finished with eight, and Cabrera added seven.

Feuerbach paced Sycamore (8-17, 3-8) with 11 points, while Hallahan had 10.