Lisle can't stay with Peoria Notre Dame

Peoria Notre Dame is playing its best when it's loose and relaxed.

Lisle looked anything but that during Thursday's second-round boys basketball game against the Irish in the Plano Christmas Classic.

The Irish were hotter than the inside of a traditional Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day, making 70 percent of its shots in the first half, building a huge early lead and then cruising to a 62-31 victory.

"They're a good team that played very well," Lisle coach Mark LaScala said. "And they're going to play very well unless you make them not play well, and we had not seen their particular brand of pressure so that was a new experience for us, and when we struggled with that a little bit we lost our focus defensively, got mentally tired and gave them some space and they made us pay."

Lisle fell behind 18-6 after one quarter and trailed 42-17 at halftime.

The Irish shot 57 percent from the field for the game while the Lions were just 31 percent.

"Over a span of five games now, we're playing really well," Irish coach Tom Lacher said. "We had a little bit of a disconnect where we lost three games by a total of 7 points, but now were just playing loose and relaxed and the ball is moving and the guys who are getting shots, are the ones who need to be getting the shots."

Connor Dillon and Joe Gustafson made the most of them, leading the Irish with 18 points each.

Jay McGrath led Lisle with 19 points and 7 rebounds while Elisha Basnight added 8 points. Jakub Kowal and Anthony Raineri accounted for the rest of the team's scoring with a field goal apiece.

"McGrath is a good player, a good shooter," Lacher said. "They've got good athletes and tough, hard-nosed guys. We scouted them a little bit, but without a huge turnaround and not being sure who you're going to play, you can't prepare too much."

Lisle (8-7), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped, will look to return to its winning ways against Yorkville Christian, a team it beat earlier this season, on Friday at Plano.

"This was one game in a tournament and everyone goes into it wanting to win it," LaScala said. "Our big thing is we want to come out better connected and a better team and even though the game didn't go our way, I think it made us a better team. We're young boys learning the game of basketball and Peoria Notre Dame is a little ahead of us right now."