MADISON HEIGHTS — The weather seemed a bit milder outside Bishop Foley’s gym this past record-snowy Saturday afternoon from all the heat Detroit Loyola and Hamtramck generated inside on the basketball floor.
Pride was at stake.
Division 3 No. 6-ranked Loyola was seeking to keep its 8-0 record unblemished.
Hamtramck (7-2), reveling in a revived program, was eight points from perfection, losing by three points in overtime to CHSL Central Division Warren De La Salle and by five points to Division 1 No. 3-rated River Rouge.
It was stunning how much action the two teams crammed within a 32-minute framework. Thank goodness for the occasional time out for both players and spectators to catch their breath.
But, that’s basketball these days, physical and free-wheeling, particularly when both teams were pressing full-court. Collisions are inevitable (a bloody nose, assorted bumps and scrapes).
Yet, one must marvel at the level of grace and athleticism the players performed in this atmosphere.
Hamtramck persevered for 67-62 victory.
The Cosmos used their height advantage and locked down their defense, frustrating Loyola time and again when the Bulldogs seemed on the edge of turning the game around in their favor.
Fueled by the presence of and eight points by 6-foot-7 Noah Burns, Hamtramck built a 21-11 lead midway through the opening quarter. That 10-point difference would prove to be the largest between the teams the rest of the contest.
Loyola seniors Eric Cox and Mark Mayberry Jr. combined for 13 points to tie the score at 32-32 with 1:45 left in the second quarter. Hamtramck responded to lead 36-32 at the half.
Loyola went ahead for the only time in the game, 41-39, midway in the third quarter. The Cosmos rallied for a 49-43 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Again, Loyola tied the score 49-49 on a pair of baskets by Mayberry, the last one a brilliant play where he ripped the ball out of a defender’s hands and went in for a layup.
Moments later, he was whistled for his third and fourth fouls, forcing him to the sidelines for a couple of minutes.
And once again, at 2:57, junior Kwesi Henry sank a triple to make it 58-58. It would be the Bulldogs’ last gasp.
“We just couldn’t get a run going,” Loyola coach Dennis Morey II said. “When we’d get two or three points close, something would happen. Turnovers, mistakes. We’ll be watching a lot of film to learn from our mistakes.”
Burns and Javier Whitaker led the Cosmos with 16 points apiece. Hamtramck converted seven triples compared to Loyola’s three.
Mayberry, Loyola’s only returning starter from a year ago, scored 20 points and snared nine rebounds.
The game was one of eight played last Saturday and Sunday as part of a Martin Luther King Showcase hosted by Bishop Foley.
Foley’s varsity coach Matt Stefani explained, “Martin Luther King taught us there is more that unite us as a people than divide us. We are using basketball as a uniter.”
Two other CHSL teams played in the Showcase: Foley was defeated by Evergreen Park (Illinois) 72-41 and Detroit Cristo Rey beat Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 65-50.
The other participants: Troy Athens 83, Lincoln Park 51; Dearborn Advanced Technology 50, Mount Clemens 48; South Lyon East 60, Berkley 47; Saline 76, Evergreen Park 69; Dexter 65, Rochester 42.
