Ramblers end Season With 'Disappointing' Loss to Niles West

Everything was coming together for Loyola Academy. Center Jared Prince was returning to his early-season form after an injury, the team's young guards were maturing, and the Ramblers had won five of its last six games to close the regular season.

But their season came to an abrupt and unexpected end on Wednesday night as the Ramblers fell to Niles West in the IHSA Class 4A Des Plaines (Maine West) Regional semi-finals, 45-42.

Loyola let a four-point lead slip away in the final minute after trailing for most of the game. Seniors Briggs King and Michael Lang both missed the front end of 1-and-1 free-throw attempts in the final minute, but Coach Tom Livatino didn’t point to their misses as the night’s only mistakes.

“That’s not the reason we won or lost the game,” Livatino said. “We needed to get stops at certain times and we were unable to get them. We just did not have a very good night and I think Niles West had a lot to do with that.”

Down three points with the ball and 6.6 seconds to go, Loyola inbounded the ball to Lang, but his three-point attempt from the top of the arc was short.

Wednesday night’s game played out different than the two teams’ regular-season matchup: A 64-52 Rambler win in December where Loyola dominated inside the paint. Much of Loyola’s size advantage was neutralized early on when senior center Jared Prince picked up his second foul less than three minutes into the first period. Prince would remain on the bench for the rest of the half and the Ramblers garnered only two offensive rebounds in the game’s first 16 minutes.

Niles West made three of its four attempts from beyond the arc and jumped out to a 15-11 lead after the first quarter despite committing six turnovers.

“We played with a lot more energy tonight and I felt like we believed we were going to win this game,” Niles West coach Bob Williams said. “We came in and played that way.”

Two free throws from forward Briggs King gave the Ramblers a 20-17 lead in the second quarter. But Loyola committed turnovers on its next three possessions and the Wolves took advantage, going into halftime up by two points, 25-23.

Ball-handling problems continued to plague Loyola. For the game, they committed 17 turnovers and never fully solved Niles West’s pressure. Even after a long layoff, Michael Lang couldn’t explain his team’s overall sloppiness.

“I don’t understand it; we had 2.5 weeks of practice,” Lang said. “We came out flat and didn’t execute; it’s a shock to us.”

Despite Loyola’s mediocre play, the Ramblers pulled ahead in the fourth quarter when Lang and Prince started to assert themselves. The senior duo scored eight straight points for Loyola and the Ramblers had a four-point lead with three minutes to go.

Still leading by two points, King missed his free throw with 36.9 seconds left. On Niles West’s ensuing possession, Niles West guard Ramsan Younatham knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing to put the Wolves up one. It was Niles West’s first made three-pointer since the first quarter, snapping an 0-for-11 streak.

Lang was fouled with 15.2 seconds remaining, but he too missed his first free throw with a chance to give Loyola the lead.

The loss capped an up-and-down season for the Ramblers. Still, coach Livatino says he will miss this year’s senior class dearly.

“I have absolutely nothing but love for our seniors. Six tremendously talented, gifted, caring Ramblers for life and I’m very proud of them,” Livatino said.