PRESTON — Konrad Kantorski scored a game-high 25 points and hit six 3-pointers to help Myerscough fend off a pesky Loreto College 73-66 on Wednesday.
Mate Okros added 11 points and Callan Low and Edoardo Del Cadia finished with 10 each for Myerscough (5-1 EABL), which struggled offensively shooting 36 percent. Despite difficulties finding the basket, Myerscough still managed to connect on nine threes.
Loreto also found offence hard to come by in a game where points were at a premium — the two teams scoring 13 each in the opening quarter — and finished 36.9 percent from the field, including hitting just 3-of-12 attempts from distance.
“We really had to grind this one out defensively,” said Myerscough guard Kantorski. “We struggled offensively in the first half, but we clicked in the second and turned stops into points.”
Myerscough forced 12 steals and converted 21 Loreto turnovers into 25 points, and limited its own miscues to just 14.
Myerscough, appeared set to head into halftime with the lead, but Loreto closed the final five minutes on a 13-4 run to knot the game at 34.
Okros, who scored all of his points in the third quarter, provided the necessary spark the hosts needed and broke the tie with 8:01 left before knocking down back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 10-1 burst that built a 44-35 advantage.
Kantorski lifted Myerscough into its largest lead of 12, but Loreto fought back to within 54-51 with eight minutes left if the third. The hosts, however, responded with a 9-0 burst and Loreto never got closer than nine.
“When it isn’t clicking you do look to your best players to provide you with a spark,” said Myerscough coach Neal Hopkins. “Edo [Del Cadia] had a big dunk and then Mate gets hot and that was what we needed to give us a cushion.”
Michael Anumba led Loreto (4-4) with 18 points and Wesley Oba had 16 in the loss.
NOTES: Del Cadia recorded his third consecutive double double (10 points & 12 rebounds) … Kantorski set a season-high of six made 3-pointers … Finished 6 of 11 from distance (54.5 percent) … Matched a season-high of nine made field goals … Finished 9 of 18 from the field (50 percent) … Third consecutive 20-point game … Tyrell Brown had a season-high five rebounds … Rayon Brown had a season-high six steals.
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