Gordon (5-6) won the Consolation title at Luther North, defeating Guerin (3-10) 54-32 in what may have been the team’s best performance of the season.
The Rams win came after losing the first tournament match to Taft 62-46.
Gordon jumped out to a 30-16 lead at halftime and never looked back while making 20-of-41 shots.
“I’m real proud of the guys,” said Gordon head coach Shay Boyle. “We gave them that goal after losing the first game. We have to find a silver lining. I thought we could comeback. I thought (they) did a great job. They were focused.”
“We started off 1-5 and had a tough week of practice,” said Gordon point guard Brandon Johnson. “We wanted to come out and win these (last) three games. It takes a lot of courage to comeback and win these games.”
“We need to get wins right now,” admitted Gordon’s Dave Andrews. “It’s not going to be easy coming out of Christmas break. In the past, we have done well at the Luther North tournament. Getting these three wins is great.”
Catholic League play hasn’t been kind to the Rams who are 0-3. Things won’t get easier as Gordon has upcoming matchups against traditional powers Hales, De La Salle, St. Joseph, and a rematch at Loyola.
Andrews led Gordon with 21 points on seven three-pointers while Johnson ran the offense and scored 11 points.
Guerin struggled against Gordon’s defense making only 13-of-35 shots.
The Rams have now rebounded from a 1-5 start.
“We are playing as a team,” added Johnson. “We weren’t playing as a team. We have a lot of chemistry now. It’s going good right now.”
“This is a huge momentum builder for us,” admitted Andrews who is starting to draw attention from opposing defenses. “Now, we can see that we can beat teams.”
Boyle has inserted sophomore Sam Rarick into the starting lineup. Rarick has responded and had eight points and seven rebounds in the win over Guerin.
Mather(10-2) won the Luther North tournament with a 60-59 win over King(9-4) while Taft(7-6) took third place in this event by topping Jones 56-43.
The Rams will host Hales this Friday night at 7:30 pm.
