The Lions Den was roaring Friday night as Leo closed out the Catholic League portion of its schedule against Blue Division rival Saint Ignatius College Prep.
The Lions were anxious to bounce back and regain momentum after getting manhandled at Mt. Carmel three nights earlier, and they did just that, knocking off the Wolfpack 67-62 in a well-played, back-and-forth contest.
Leo improved to 18-10 overall and 3-5 in the Blue Division, taking two of three from Blue contenders Loyola, Mt. Carmel and St. Ignatius in the last week.
Leo is scheduled this week for nonconference games against Marshall (Wednesday) and Hyde Park (Friday). The Lions will compete in the IHSA Class 2-A Regional at Harlan on Wednesday, February 26. Leo is the top seed in the regional and will face the winner of Monday night’s game February 24th between U-High and Hansberry. The regional championship game is Friday, February 28. The Chicago Harlan Regional is located at 9652 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
Turnovers and fouls were prevalent during Friday’s physical first quarter, which ended with the Lions holding a 14-13 lead.
The Wolfpack began to control the tempo in the second quarter with defense that forced Leo to use two timeouts in mid-possession. St. Ignatius found its offense and knocked down enough shots to take a 28-25 lead at the half.
Hard, aggressive play characterized the third quarter, with the pace picking up toward the end. After several lead changes, the period ended with the Lions on top 50-48.
The tight contest came down to the final quarter as each team’s leader took over.
With 55 seconds remaining, Phoenix Gill was fouled on a scoring drive; he converted the three-point play to give St. Ignatius its last lead at 62-61.
With an assist from point guard Dontae Bell, Brian Kizer answered with a wing three with 23 seconds remaining. It was the third of the sophomore’s second-half three-pointers and put the Lions up for good 64-63. Bell split two free throws with 11 seconds remaining for a 65-52 lead.
Gill had two shots at a tie or a Wolfpack lead in the final 30 seconds, but couldn’t get either shot to drop. Junior guard Ethan Jackson then iced Leo’s win with two free throws.
The game featured nine ties, a lead change in each quarter and nine lead changes in the entertaining third period. The Lions hit a remarkable 22 of 24 free throws.
Senior guard Bell had an excellent fourth quarter and was strong all night for the Lions, finishing with 21 points, seven assists, two steals and some timely rebounds. Gill, a Northwestern signee and the son of former NBA star Kendall Gill, had 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“It’s all about winning,” Bell said, “because (after next week) it’s win or go home, and since it’s my senior year, I want to get a championship.”
A win in the Harlan Regional would send the Lions on to sectional play at Julian, where they are the No. 2 seed behind Dyett, which is 20-7 overall and 11-0 in the Chicago Public League’s Red Northwest Conference.
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