Lindfors, Driscoll bang past Knights

A slow start couldn't stop Jake Lindfors from having another big night.

Driscoll's 6-foot-10 senior missed 3 of his first 4 shots Friday against Immaculate Conception. The Highlanders turned the ball over 8 times in the first quarter.

But Lindfors threw down a one-handed breakaway dunk in the last minute of the quarter and went on to score 26 points with 11 rebounds in Driscoll's 59-34 Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball win in Elmhurst.

"We started off very sloppy both ways," Lindfors said. "I don't know if we ever picked it up, but I think our defense is what got us through."

Lindfors and Driscoll (6-2, 2-0) won the battle of standout conference big men with IC and Matt Purdom.

Purdom went to the bench with 4 fouls and 4 points with five minutes left in the third quarter and Driscoll leading 31-22.

Without Purdom's 6-5 frame clogging the lane, Lindfors scored 6 points in Driscoll's 10-3 run to end the quarter. IC (4-3, 2-1) never pulled closer than 15 the rest of the way. Lindfors had 12 of his 26 points in the quarter.

"Anytime you take out a guy that can bang with me I'm going to do some damage," Lindfors said. "When he went out, there was no stopping us."

"We kept Lindfors kind of at bay and Purdom went at him defensively," IC coach Darren Howard said, "but once Purdom and Alex (Jacobo) got in foul trouble we obviously had trouble with the matchup."

Driscoll led 14-13 after a sloppy first quarter that featured a combined 20 turnovers.

The Highlanders opened the second with a quick 8-0 spurt. David Schwabe scored inside, then fed Lindfors and Kevin Bain for back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 22-13.

"It was sloppy both ways, with a bunch of turnovers," Driscoll coach Nick Latorre said. "We were fortunate to knock down some shots."

Matt Kaban had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Schwabe 7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals for Driscoll. The Highlanders kept pace with Aurora Central Catholic atop the conference standings in the early going.

"It was a hard-fought game," Latorre said. "Their kids played us tough. They didn't back down one bit."

Purdom and Brendan Ryan scored 8 points for IC. Jacobo added 7.

"Overall I was happy with how we did," Howard said. "I think that they're the best team in the conference. Until midway through the third quarter I thought we played pretty well."