High school basketball: Brother Rice beats Rolling Meadows, stakes its claim to join the area’s elite

Rolling Meadows’ starting five is as good as any team in the state. And the Mustangs have something no one else does, Cam Christie.

The Minnesota recruit was spectacular on Saturday in Lisle, scoring 31 points. He may be the state’s most difficult player to shut down. Brother Rice’s Peter McShane actually did an admirable job defending Christie, but there isn’t much you can do against a tremendous shooter that’s 6-6 and athletic.

“Christie is amazing,” Brother Rice senior Ahmad Henderson said. “He makes so many tough shots. I think we did a great job on him but he can score in so many different ways.”

But it wasn’t enough for Rolling Meadows. Brother Rice took control in the final two minutes to grab a 64-59 victory at the When Sides Collide Shootout at Benet.

The Crusaders were able to rest most of their top players for a stretch of the second quarter and received major contributions from eight players. Rolling Meadows’ achilles heel is depth. The Mustangs played seven guys total and didn’t make a substitution in the second half.

“It’s on the six guys that play,” Christie said. “We have to do a better job of staying in shape. There’s just no excuse. It’s only 32 minutes. You have to be able to play hard all 32 minutes.”

Henderson led Brother Rice (20-3) with 20 points. He scored 10 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to help provide the Crusaders with the game-winning cushion.

Zavier Fitch added 12 points and six rebounds for Brother Rice, Cale Cosme scored 10 and Nick Niego came off the bench to drain four three-pointers.

Rolling Meadows (20-3) led by one point at halftime and 48-47 after three quarters. Brother Rice opened the fourth with an 8-0 run that included three pointers from Niego and Henderson.

The Crusaders shot 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final 19 seconds to seal the win.

Brother Rice has been highly ranked all season, but there seems to be a feeling that it isn’t one of the area’s elite teams. And the Crusaders were upset by Loyola on Friday. This win against Christie and Rolling Meadows at one of the season’s major events may begin to change opinions.

“This is a big win against a team that is ranked over us,” Henderson said. “But we are focused on playing our best ball later in the season. That’s what coach has been preaching.”

Mark Nikolich-Wilson, a 6-8 senior, had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Rolling Meadows and 6-7 senior Tsvet Sotirov added 10 points.

“We missed some shots today that we typically make,” Katovich said. “We just have to get back and focus on some fundamental things we didn’t do well. But this game is going to help us in the long run.”

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