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PERU – It was your typical rivalry game, and in the end it was Mac Resetich leading the way with a career-high 44 points as the Red Devils cruised to a 67-58 win over the St. Bede Bruins on Wednesday night in St. Louis. Bede Abbot Vincent High School in Peru.
St. Bede came out strong, taking an early lead over the Red Devils when Landon Jackson used a power move to the hoop for a 5-2 lead.
Moments later, Isaiah Hart used a scoop shot followed by an up-and-down move from Jackson as the lead grew to 9-4.
“I thought Landon Jackson had a good night and also Isaiah Hart had a really great start, taking the hoop and making some plays for us,” Bruins coach Brian Hanson said. “We’re kind of a scoring team, and I thought we did a good job spreading the ball all night.”
Rezetich cut the deficit to 9-6 with a strong drive to the hoop and then Hart followed to give the Bruins an 11-8 lead.
Before the quarter was over, Hart drove to the bucket for a layup and a layup to give St. Bede a 15-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Red Devils came out and set a blistering pace to start the second quarter as Peyton Day made his third corner layup and then hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 15-all.
Not long after that, Rezetic made a steal and then one-handedly dunked the crowd to make it 17-15.
Hall’s defense continued to pressure the Bruins, then Max Bryant grabbed an offensive rebound and found Resetic cutting to the basket for a layup as the Red Devils completed an 11-2 run to take a 21-17 lead.
“Well, if you ask the guys, that dunk was what got us out there and got us to the win,” Red Devils coach Mike Filippini said. “But they’re wrong because going to a zone defense when we always practice is man-to-man. “That really slowed down St. Bede’s ability to drive to the basket and helped us out.”
After a timeout, the Bruins got a needed 3-pointer from Logan Potthoff and a minute later Callan Huenenburg hit one as the Bruins cut Hall’s lead to 24-23.
Hall went on a quick 5-0 run with Ashton Pecher hitting a layup from behind the arc as Hall entered halftime with a 33-28 lead.
Dye missed a 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but got a rebound and a 3-pointer over Bryant to make it 36-30.
St. Bede then got a layup from Connor Brown before hitting a layup to make it 36-35.
Both teams struggled with 2-minute turnovers, but with the game tied at 37, the Bruins went on a run with the help of Hart’s running back and a foul for a three-point play. Bruins lead 42-37 after 12-1 run.
“Yeah, I thought we had a good run there,” Hanson said. “We weren’t surprised that Hall went to a zone defense, but we’re definitely a team that prefers to see how we drive man-to-man, but give them credit for making the change and then resetting what you can say.” I mean, it’s just a ton. We watched him in the play-offs against St Heart Griffin who won the title and he also showed how tough he is.
With 1:33 left in the third, Rezetic scored the first points of the half on a pair of free throws and quickly followed it up with a 3-pointer to put Hall back in front 44-42.
“After the St. Bede run, I called a timeout and just challenged the guys,” Filippini said. “I didn’t write anything down, I just said ok, who steps up.”
Keian Smith was one of those to speed up a short jumper and then Rezetic hit a pair of free throws for a 48-42 lead in the final eight minutes of action.
Rezetic continued to dominate by grabbing rebounds and going coast-to-coast for the old-fashioned three-point game.
Hart drove to cut Hall’s lead to 53-48, but a drive-and-fake jumper by Resetich, followed by a backdoor layup, made it 57-48 Red Devils.
The Bruins wouldn’t go away, though, as Hart’s drive and layup cut Hall’s lead to 57-52, but free throws clinched the win for the Red Devils.
Resertich led all scorers with 44 points and 17 rebounds, while Hart had 21 and Jackson had 11 in double figures for St. Bede.
