Hirsch, Notre Dame turn away Leyden

Notre Dame was able to weather a series of challenges from Leyden in a 64-55 victory in a Maine South Class 4A regional semifinal in Park Ridge.

Notre Dame (19-9) led from start to finish over the Eagles (13-14).

The Dons cashed in at the free-throw line, hitting 19 of 23 (and 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter) to fend off some late Leyden runs.

Notre Dame's Tim Hirsch, a 6-foot-6 senior forward who scored just 7 points, was one difference-maker.

"Tim has become a more aggressive player in the last few weeks and that has made us a better team," said Dons coach Tom Les. "He's able to look over zones and traps and then find the open man."

Hirsch's key quarter was the fourth.

Leyden had a chance to cut a 49-44 deficit to 2, but a 3-point try by Mike Woolf rimmed out.

Seconds later, Shawn Wallace (13 points) was fouled and made the first of 2 shots. Hirsch alertly grabbed the rebound on the second try; he was fouled and made both for a 54-44 lead with 4:07 left.

"That just happened too many times tonight," said Leyden coach Bill Hisler. "In the second quarter, that happened twice when we had cut into their leads."

"It was a game of runs," said Hirsch, who had 4 rebounds in the fourth quarter. "I knew I had to be aggressive. To do that I had to hustle. The coaches have been on me to be more aggressive on the floor."

Woolf's final game resulted in 26 points and 5 rebounds. Brandon Stinson backed up Woolf with 15 points.

"They really hit the glass," said Woolf of Notre Dame's 30-18 rebounding advantage. "We had trouble getting the ball off their misses. Because of that, they got a lot of free plays, and that hurt us."

Quinton Chievous led the Dons, who face Maine South on Friday night, with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Matt Moser, who was 6-for-6 at the foul line in the fourth quarter, added 14.

"Looking back, we had a nice season after a 1-5 start," said Hisler. "We beat Proviso East and finished over .500 in the conference for the first time in awhile."