Joliet Catholic boys basketball coach Adam DeGroot summed up his team’s journey through the State Farm Holiday Classic well Tuesday night.

“We spent five days in Bloomington and got better as a team.”

Playing in the Small Schools bracket, JCA advanced to the championship game against Quincy Notre Dame Tuesday night at Illinois Wesleyan University. For the most part, the Hilltoppers hung tough, but were unable to get the win, falling 72-59.

Again, though, give Joliet Catholic credit. This time last year, the Hilltoppers were sitting at .500. This year, they knocked off Tri-Valley, Bishop McNamara and Normal University to make the finals. Quincy Notre Dame is undefeated on the year and Joliet Catholic competed with them most of the way.

The loss drops them to 8-4 on the year, a vast improvement from this time 365 days ago.

“We were super excited to have this opportunity to come here,” DeGroot said. “That’s an accomplishment for our program. ...This is going to help us come playoff time in February and March.

“That’s a heck of a team we just played. They did some really good stuff and brought some physicality that we need to match moving forward. We learned lessons in a top notch tournament down here. We’re super fortuante. We would’ve liked to come out on top but 3-1 down here is good for us.”

It was a hot start for JCA as they took a 7-0 lead quick with all points coming from Jayden Armstrong. Quincy Notre Dame wouldn’t go down without a fight, using a 10-2 run to surge ahead 10-9 with 5:30 left in the first.

The Raiders clung to a one possession lead for the next few minutes until a triple by Robbie Reed stretched it to 21-15. A late basket by Danny Cervantes narrowed it to 21-17 entering the second.

Jahari Sanders managed to cut it to 24-21 with 5:12 til the half on a basket under the glass, but Beau Eftink answered with a trey just seconds later. Things only continued to go to Notre Dame’s way from there with T.J. Togarepi’s layup extending the lead to double digits, 35-24 with 2:13 to go.

The Raiders led 37-27 at the midway point.

Bask-to-back baskets by Armstrong started the second half to cut it to a six-point game in a hurry. A lay-in by Elias Passehl midway through the third brought the Hilltoppers within 40-36. Donavyn Simmons brought them within 41-39 a minute later.

The Hilltoppers alternated between being down three and five the next minute until Gavin Doellman’s triple made it 51-43 with a minute to go.

Quincy led 52-45 entering the final period of play.

Simmons cut it back to a three-point game on a steal and score 90 seconds in the fourth, but Jace Allensworth sunk consecutive baskets to get the Nortre Dame lead to 57-49 with five minutes to go.

Notre Dame remained in front by double digits until 1:59 remained and Cervantes hit a trey to trim it to 65-58, but that was as close as the Hilltoppers would get.

Armstrong led the way all week for JCA, being named to the All-Tournament team. He scored 17 points against the Raiders, but it was Simmons who led the Hilltoppers on the night with 19 points. Passehl added 13.

The Raiders were led by Allensworth (21), Doellman (14), Reed (11) and Togarepi (10).