Boys Basketball: Sandburg Deflates Brother Rice

The Skinny: Brother Rice jumped ahead 4-0 but Sandburg responded with a 9-0 run and never looked back en route to notching a 56-33 boys basketball victory on Tuesday night. Sandburg sophomore Malek Harris drained a 25-foot three-pointer to end the opening quarter and give the Eagles a 16-9 lead which seemingly demoralized the Crusaders. Sandburg opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run to leap ahead 25-9, and Brother Rice never made it much of a contest. It was a 58-point turnaround from last year's meeting as Sandburg was blasted at Brother Rice 78-42.

Patch’s MVP: Sandburg senior Joe Kuligoski had a game-high 17 points and was also the top rebounder with nine.

Key Stats: Brother Rice was held to only four field goals in the first half. Brother Rice's 6-foot-4 guard Garrett O'Neill was held without a field goal and only scored three points. Sandburg outrebounded Brother Rice 33-23.

Sandburg Leaders: Joe Kuligoski (17 points, 9 rebounds), Malek Harris (10 points, 6 rebounds), Ken Payonk (9 points) and Brian Dace (9 points, 5 rebounds).

Brother Rice Leaders: Alex Majewski (11 points, 5 rebounds), Jim Barista (6 points) and Ray Runio (5 points, 4 rebounds).

Quotable I: Sandburg coach Todd Allen on whether or not it was the best the Eagles have played this season: "I thought we played real well. Defensively, we've been doing a good job and finally our offense got going a little bit and we had multiple guys contribute to scoring."

Quotable II: Brother Rice coach Pat Richardson on his team's effort: "The most discouraging thing, and it was clear to everybody in the gym, was we got outworked. They just dominated. Their five kids dominated our five kids every second of the game, and I've never been more disappointed in my team's effort in my 23 years. When I look at film, I'll be even more disappointed in their effort."

Quoteable III: Sandburg's Joe Kuligoski on whether or not he was surprised the Eagles were able to dominate a Brother Rice team that entered with a 6-1 record: "We came into this game very prepared and obviously knew they were 6-1 and we were 2-4. We knew we were better than a 2-4 team and played them in the summer and ran with them pretty well, so we felt we had a pretty good chance of winning the game."

Team Records: Brother Rice is 6-2. Sandburg is 3-4.

What’s Next: Sandburg will entertain Joliet Central at 7 p.m. on Friday, while Brother Rice will travel to Benedictine University to face Benet for a rare Sunday evening (6:45 tip) contest.