By Peter McShane ‘23

After a gritty loss to the St. Rita Mustangs, the Brother Rice Crusaders needed a strong comeback win to get their momentum back, and they did just that. As they headed down to Mount Carmel High School to play Bloom Township, the boys all knew that this was a personal game because of what happened last year in the playoffs.

Junior forward Julian Gamboa said, “This was a huge game for us. Everyone on the team needed to step up, and we did just that.”

The Crusaders were going back and forth with Bloom during the first half. They had trouble getting shots up during this half, but were still able to take the lead of 30-27 going into halftime.

Junior guard Brendan Hayes said, ”I knew we would come out strong in the second half. I thought we just needed a little more energy from the guys, and we would be fine.”

Brother Rice had a solid third quarter that included a great basket at the end by Zavier Fitch to take a 48-40 lead.

The fourth quarter was a different story for the Crusaders. Only scoring off of two free throws from Ahmad Henderson, the Crusaders needed to play very tough defense, and they did. They won the game 50-46 and advanced to a record of 9-1.

Senior guard Nick Niego said, “This was a big win for us. We had a great game plan going into the game, and everyone did their job.”

The Crusader’s next game will be at home on Tuesday against Romeoville High School.