Nikes snap HTC's five-game win streak

FORT MADISON - Adam Sobczak came up with the steal and roared the other way for the layup that got Holy Trinity within one point, and Shottenkirk Gym rumbled with an anticipation for a rally that was about to be completed.
It took Notre Dame less than a minute to quiet the place.
Holy Trinity’s 64-53 loss to the Nikes on Friday night had the feel of a game that the Crusaders could have had, maybe should have had, but didn’t get.
Notre Dame and Holy Trinity exchanged the lead all night, and when Sobczak’s layup went through with 4:18 to play, the Crusaders were down 43-42. Then Payne Prottsman and Shay Stephens hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, starting an 11-0 run that clinched the win.
“I don't know if a little bit of fatigue set in or what, but we just weren't as sharp and focused tonight defensively as we have in the last couple of games,” Holy Trinity coach John Hellige said.
|The Crusaders, who fell to 12-3 overall, 9-3 in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division, had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Nikes (13-2, 10-2), who are on a seven-game winning streak as they moved into second place in the division.

Holy Trinity led 33-28 early in the third quarter before the Nikes went on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead they would hold the rest of the game.
“They played hard, probably with a little more pressure than we've been seeing,” Hellige said. “We really just didn't step up and get that run going when they had theirs. Hats off to Notre Dame, they came down really ready to play. And I don't really feel like our effort really matched their effort. And it definitely didn't match our effort last weekend (when the Crusaders beat West Burlington and Fort Madison on back-to-back days).”
Effort, Hellige said, is something the Crusaders talk about every day.
“Sometimes high school kids are high school kids,” Hellige said. “Tonight, I think we were just a little bit on the timid side.”
Luke Hellige led Holy Trinity with 24 points. Layne Rung had 15.
The loss dropped the Crusaders to third place in the division.
“We've got to keep our heads up,” John Hellige said. “There’s a bigger picture down the road. You know, they always say the windshield is bigger than the rear-view mirror. We’ve just got to keep plugging away. And, hopefully try to win out here and get a good seed for districts.”