No. 14 Lazy Boyz shocks No. 3 NDToday.com
By MATT ORENCHUK
Sports Writer
When Jason Ditch was a freshman at Marian High School, the person he looked up to on the Marian basketball team was B.J. Kloska.
"I look up to B.J.," said Ditch. "He is one of the greatest players to come out of Marian. I wanted to be just like him in high school."
Fast-forward four years.
Kloska is now a senior at Notre Dame and leading his NDToday.com squad into the sweet 16 of Bookstore Basketball. Standing in the way was Ditch and the unseeded LazyBoyz.
But after LazyBoyz' 23-21 upset, it was Kloska who found himself looking up from the bottom of the scoreboard at Ditch.
The game was hard fought to the final point, with crisp passing and disciplined play for both teams.
The game had a quick tempo, with both teams making good on their first several baskets. LazyBoyz, which consists of Tom Walz, Matt Fox, Dave Yeager, Dan Boston and Ditch, took an early lead on the favorites.
The crowd was almost evenly divided between the two teams, with both sides receiving vocal support. Dan Boston's block fired up the LazyBoyz supporters and propelled his team to a 7-5 lead. But NDToday, which consists of B.J. and Joey Kloska, Todd Titus, Mike Oesterle and Rob Joyce, went on a run of their own to make the score 10-8 in their favor.
Then the momentum turned again, and it was Boston's free throw that sent the game to halftime with LazyBoyz up 11-10.
The second half featured more of the same disciplined basketball. A couple of turnovers by LazyBoyz helped NDToday open a 15-13 lead. Eventually NDToday stretched that lead to 17-14 for the first three-point lead of the game. The teams traded baskets with NDToday in control until the score was 20-18.
But NDToday just couldn't put the game away. Instead, LazyBoyz tied the game at 20 thanks to a Tom Walz free throw. NDToday
scored to make it 21-20, but that would be their last points of the game. Kloska had a chance to win the game on the free throw line, but his shot rattled in and out to give LazyBoyz a chance.
With the score tied at 21, an NDToday turnover gave LazyBoyz a chance to pull ahead. LazyBoyz got the ball to Ditch on the right side of the key where he nailed a 15-footer to put LazyBoyz ahead 22-21.
On NDToday's next possession Ditch stole the ball and headed for the LazyBoyz basket, where he was fouled and went to the free throw line. Ditch made the basket that B.J. Kloska couldn't and LazyBoyz walked away with a 23-21 upset.
"We didn't have anything to lose coming into this game," said Walz.
In other action Nylon Strokers were able to hold off a late rally by Candy Rain to pull out a 21-19 win. The game was undisciplined from the start, with neither team hitting their baskets.
Candy Rain, with Zack Sackley, Chris Mahoney, Luke Ratke, Van Giles and Rocco Piacentino, held a rebounding edge over Nylon, but couldn't use it to their advantage.
Nylon, with Al Vitter, Brian Oleniczak, Courtney Watson, Chris Conway and Ryan Wood, grabbed an early 2-0 lead and played well enough for an 11-8 halftime edge.
In the second half Candy started playing a fast break game. They got several turnovers and turned a 14-9 deficit into an 18-17 lead.
Nylon didn't fold though, and after a Candy turnover, they took a 20-19 lead. Another Candy turnover then allowed for the game winning shot by Oleniczak.
Nylon got the ball to Oleniczak on the right side, where he drained a game-winning basket from just inside the 3-point arc.
"I was just thinking to shoot with confidence." Oleniczak said. "We aren't a big team, so we had to compensate for their [Candy Rain's] size."
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 27, 2001
