Jace Easley scored 31 points and hauled in 20 rebouunds, while racking up 6 steals and blocking 4 shots to help No.25 Our Savior's beat Christ Lutheran 68-53 on Saturday night.
"No matter who is on the court, no matter what player it is, I always go out there and try to destroy and dominate them," Easley said. "That's the narrative I'm trying to set. I don't care who it is."
Both teams struggled from distance in a foul-plagued first half, combining to go 1 of 20 from 3-point range.
Lathan Sommerville led Christ Lutheran with 17 points on a 7-of-16 shooting clip, and was the only Comet to make a 3 on 10 attempts. Sommerville brought the Comets back within six points with his jumper with 5:16 left, but from there, Our Savior's Conor McCaffrey took over.
McCaffrey scored 12 points in the second hald on 3-of-6 shooting, including a stretch where he scored 11 straight for Our Savior's (13-3, 6-0 LSA). He finished with 14 points and five assists.
"I think it really comes from my AAU expericnce, just having that in my bag," McCaffrey said. "Playing with some really good players, seeing them play with such confidence late game with the ball."
Christ Lutheran (7-7, 1-3) has been battling injuries all throughout their lineup, them being 7-7 at this moment is considered a win for the injury-riddled Comets.
Our Savior's coach Todd Dejaynes credited the short-handed Comets for hanging around for most of the game. Christ Lutheran held a 16-8 advantage in second-chance points largely due to 15 offensive rebounds.
"They played harder than we did tonight," Dejaynes said, "which doesn't have me very excited and doesn't happen very often."
BIG PICTURE
Our Savior's: After a loss to Metamora on Dec. 12, the Eagles have now won six straight games and sit alone atop the LSA CIL at 6-0 (At least until 5-0 Chatham Glenwood takes on Mount Zion on Sunday). The Eagles are finally establishing some chemistry as a unit as they are getting healthier by the day, but they are clicking on both ends as No.7 Auburn comes to down on Tuesday.
Christ Lutheran: The Comets can't wait for Nazail Jackson and Joe Lamberti to return to the starting lineup, after losing their last 3 games and 4 out of the last 5. The Comets have a chance to avoid the cellar of the LSA CIL with winnable games coming up against Calvary, at Trinity Edwardsville and against Mount Zion.