Nolan scores 35 in Benet loss at St. Patrick

Jack Nolan seemingly could do no wrong in the fourth quarter for the Benet Redwings.

The senior guard led a ferocious fourth-quarter comeback by going 8 of 12 from the field, scoring 20 of his game-high 35 points in the final period.

Still, it wasn't enough. The Shamrocks held on for a 76-73 East Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball win Friday in Chicago.

Nolan played a role in all of Benet's 25 fourth-quarter points, dishing out two assists and tipping two passes that led to St. Patrick turnovers.

"I think it was just kind of what my team needed at the point," Nolan said. "This is one of those games where I just felt that was best for my team. I was taking shots, not just for myself, but for the other 20 guys on the team."

But the Shamrocks' Laurence Merritt nullified Nolan and the Redwings' efforts with one flick of the wrist.

Merritt sunk a corner 3 for St. Patrick with 4.7 seconds to play that gave the Shamrocks a 76-73 lead. Nolan had a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was stymied by the Shamrocks, who prevented him from putting a shot up cleanly.

"Good high school basketball game, fun to watch, up and down," Nolan said. "That's what high school basketball is all about, coming down to the wire. It was a lot of fun."

St. Patrick (15-2, 3-0) led for a majority of the game and had a 13-point lead on an Ayo Ajayi layup with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.

"The story of the game was our inability to stop them consistently," Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. "We had a lot of difficulty containing them tonight."

In the fourth quarter, though, Nolan and the Redwings (11-4, 1-2) gained momentum.

After an Ayo layup made it 61-50 with 7:30 to play, Nolan scored 18 of the Redwings' next 21 points, as part of a 21-10 run that tied the game at 71 with 2:32 to play.

"He's a great player," St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey said of Nolan. "He's one of the premier players we've played against. He's as good as any player we have played against or will play against."

St. Patrick's athleticism, coupled with a balanced attack, allowed them to build a lead that dangled in the double-digit range for a majority of the game. The Shamrocks closed the first quarter on a 9-1 run lead, giving them a 21-14 lead after the first, a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

"They're a very good team," Heidkamp said. "They've got really good players. Tonight, they answered the call. We challenged them down the stretch, and they answered."