Notre Dame's depth sinks Leyden

The Notre Dame boys basketball team showed off its depth Tuesday night with a 69-55 win over Leyden in a Class 4A regional semifinal.

Playing on their home court in Niles, the No. 3-seeded Dons got substantial contributions from junior guard Shawn Wallace and sophomore forward Quinton Chievous. The duo combined for 32 points off the bench, propelling Notre Dame to Friday's regional final against the winner of No. 6 Maine South and No. 10 Von Steuben in today's 7:30 p.m. semifinal.

"We played 10 guys today right in the guts of the game and they were pretty resilient," Notre Dame coach Tom Les said. "We've gone nine and 10 deep all year which has been advantageous for us because we can spread it out around the floor."

The Dons (18-9) controlled the pace of the game for all four quarters, eating up the clock with lengthy possessions before finding the open man and putting in a bucket before the No. 14-seeded Eagles had time to adjust.

"We moved the ball pretty well and finished around the basket," Les said.

"That's how we like to play," Wallace added. "Nice and fast."

Leyden (12-16) managed to bring the score within 5 points halfway through the third quarter, but Notre Dame converted three 3-point plays in the next four minutes that all but finished off the Eagles.

Senior Alex Regalado (19 points), Anthony Cushion (18) and Michael Woolf (15) led the way for Leyden. Cushion and Woolf combined for seven 3-pointers.

"The whole thing came down to their pace, speed of execution and their pressure," said Leyden coach Bill Heisler, whose team tripled its win total from last year. "It's just one step ahead of where were at.

"We're not happy with where we finished as far as our record, but we're happy with our development and we're taking strides to the right spot."