IC Catholic beats St. Francis in MSC Blue
Zach Jordan isn't going to wow anyone with his physical presence, but that doesn't mean opponents should take him lightly.
The IC Catholic Prep junior is only 5-foot-8, but he and backcourt mate Chauncey Lee stood tall Wednesday night against host St. Francis.
Lee, a 5-10 sophomore, scored 10 of his game-high 18 points in the first half to give the Knights an early lead. Jordan followed by tallying 14 of his 16 points after halftime.
Combined with their tough defense, that allowed ICCP to knock off St. Francis 57-42 in Metro Suburban Blue action in Wheaton. It is the second time this season the Knights (9-14, 2-7) have beaten the Spartans.
"When opposing teams see our guys, we don't intimidate with the eye test," ICCP coach TJ Tyrell said. "But Zach is a player.
"He's one of the best shooters in the conference and he's just a smooth player. He plays tough and he's quick."
Jordan is confident, too. The Knights, who have only two seniors, have had an up-and-down season, but Jordan's mindset never changes.
"I've been playing for a really long time," Jordan said. "I just go out there trying to do my best.
"I, as an individual, don't think anyone can guard me. I don't think anyone can guard Chauncey, so I just go into every game think that we'll win and that there's no way that we can lose."
That was the case this year against St. Francis, which lost the first meeting 64-59 on Dec. 4. ICCP hadn't won a conference game since and came into the rematch having lost six straight games and 9 of 10.
"We came in with the same game plan, but we knew they would come in trying to work against what we did last time," Jordan said. "So we just had to stick to what we knew we had to do, and we got the win."
The Knights did it with defense as Jordan and Lee flustered the Spartans (10-18, 4-6) into a cold shooting night and attacked with vigor at the other end.
St. Francis led 13-11 in the second quarter before Jordan tied it with a layup. Lee followed with three straight driving layups, one off his own steal and another on a fastbreak. The Knights never trailed again.
"Watching film I noticed they weren't key ballhandlers," Lee said. "So I tried to pressure them as much as I can."
It worked. The Spartans never found a rhythm. Jordan scored the first 6 points of the second half as IC held St. Francis scoreless for a 6:28 span.
The Spartans shot 1 for 16 in the third quarter and made only 1 basket during an 11:19 stretch. Jordan sank a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 39-20 with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter, then made 9 of 13 free throws down the stretch.
"I thought they played really well and we couldn't hit a shot for six minutes," St. Francis coach Erin Dwyer said. "When the ball is not going in the rim it's just hard to watch sometimes."
Marcus Ingold scored 8 of his team-high 11 points in the last six minutes, including a layup that cut the gap to 48-39 with 1:17 left, but the Spartans could get no closer.
"We had several open shots from people who we want to shoot and the ball doesn't drop," Dwyer said. "But we showed a lot of fight trying to come back."