Young Nazareth squad making headway on court

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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:39AM

Nazareth Academy boys basketball coach John Bonk has a young team this season, and the squad took another step toward maturity Saturday night.

The Roadrunners ultimately lost to visiting Notre Dame 65-54 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference contest, but showed they’re ready to put inexperience behind them.

“If we had played this game before Christmas, we probably would have lost by 25,” Bonk said. “We’re proud of our kids. You can see how young we are, but we’re starting to show more poise out there.”

Nazareth (5-11, 1-2 ESCC) led Notre Dame 23-19 before the Dons (14-4, 2-0) posted a 46-31 scoring edge in the second half. Still, ND coach Tom Les and Co. had to claw for everything they got in what was a scrappy game from start to finish.

“They’re physical, they’re big, and they’re young,” Les said of Nazareth. “They’re going to be a good team to reckon with over the next couple of years.”

Nazareth built its halftime lead thanks to eight points from senior Kevin Stiff, scoring on cuts to the basket and putbacks of missed shots. Junior John Bonk hit a three-pointer in the half and Nazareth held Notre Dame to four second-quarter points.

The Dons posted a 21-16 scoring edge in the third to take a 40-35 lead into the final quarter.

Nazareth senior Maceo Thompson Jr. tied the score at 46-46 in the fourth quarter on a steal and layup, before Notre Dame fashioned a 9-0 run that forced the Roadrunners to foul in the final minutes in order to stop the clock. The Dons’ Matt Mooney went 8-for-9 from the free-throw line to ice the game for Notre Dame.

“We had a good fourth quarter, got some points out of John (Bonk), and he’s learning to feed off to other people,” coach Bonk said. “He’s been the focus of opposing teams just because he’s been our leading scorer, and he’s learning to get other people involved.”

Bonk, a junior guard, scored 10 of his team-high 13 points in the final quarter. The Roadrunners put 19 points on the board in the final eight minutes.

“I thought Kevin and Tyler Jackson did a good job of rebounding, and I thought we played with (Notre Dame),” Bonk said. “A couple mistakes here and there obviously hurt us, but we’re proud of the effort. We’ve learned what it takes in practice to get better. When you’re dealing with (underclassmen) it’s a maturity thing, and I think we matured a little bit (Saturday) night playing against an excellent team.”