Defensive change helps L-P start strong, cruise to win over Rochelle

Recently, the La Salle-Peru boys basketball team has had multiple games in which the Cavaliers did not play well early and rallied late to cut a double-digit lead to single digits only to come up short.

So the Cavs made a defensive change ahead of Friday’s Interstate 8 Conference game against Rochelle.

L-P extended its defense and turned up the pressure, providing a spark that helped the Cavs start strong and cruise to an 80-60 victory.

“We made a little change in our defense. We were up full court, applying pressure,” L-P senior guard Mikey Hartman said. “I really think it made us come out hot. We’ve been coming out flat the past couple games. I think that was a change we needed.”

L-P forced eight turnovers in the first quarter, and the Cavs put on a clinic on the other end as they scored on 13 of 20 possessions to build a 30-16 lead after eight minutes.

“We were forcing a lot of steals and missed passes,” Hartman said. “We were running in transition, getting open looks on the perimeter. I would definitely say the defense started (our offense). We were using our numbers attacking and dishing if there was a 3 or getting to the rim and finishing.”

Hartman drained a 3-pointer to start the scoring, and Marion Persich converted a fast break into a three-point play for an 8-2 lead with 6:03 left in the first quarter.

Erick Sotello scored off an assist from Braylin Bond for a 20-10 advantage with 3:31 left in the opening quarter, and the Cavaliers led by double digits the rest of the way.

L-P held a 30-16 advantage after the first quarter after scoring just 33 points through three quarters on Tuesday in a 58-50 loss to Streator.

“We moved the ball extremely well,” L-P coach John Senica said. “I thought our transition offense was excellent on misses or steals. Our defense predicated that. When we got into our offense, we were driving, penetrating and kicking, doing everything we were supposed to do on offense.”

The Cavaliers led 52-33 at halftime and extended their lead to as many as 23 points in the second half.

“I thought we put 32 minutes together, which we haven’t done all year,” Senica said. “They kept the pressure on. We’ve talked about consistency since Day 1.

“Our last game we only played six minutes. The consistency was there this game. We kept playing defense. We kept running the offense properly. We kept doing the things we needed to do the whole game.

“I was proud of them. The kids busted their tails and did a great job.”

The Cavs improved to 9-11 overall and 3-1 in the conference after losing six of their last seven games coming into Friday.

“I think it’s very important,” Hartman said about getting the win after a couple tough losses. “I think we’re going to start rolling with that. Everybody played well today. Guys came off the bench and were scoring buckets. I think that’s going to lead into the next couple games.”

Hartman scored a game-high 21 points, while Persich had 19, Nick Olivero scored 15, and Braylin Bond contributed 14 as the Cavs had their second highest offensive output of the season.