NILES, Illinois — In a showdown between a pair of IHSA Class 2A squads with high postseason hopes, Northridge outlasted IC Catholic in an instant classic inside "The Dungeon" Wednesday evening, 60-57.
A back-and-forth game from the start, the gravity of the game's importance was felt from the opening tip. At the 3:00 mark of the first quarter, IC Catholic jumped out to 15-9 lead on the heels of a pair of three pointers. As would become a theme of the game, though, Northridge refused to let IC build an insurmountable lead, scoring a pair of unanswered baskets at the end of the quarter to claw their way back to within five.
IC Catholic bounced back to begin the 2nd quarter, quickly building a 9-point lead with the help of some hot outside shooting. IC would take a 27-18 lead with 6:00 to go in the half. Fueled by a pair of three pointers, the Knights would cut into the lead by going on a run of their own in the final three minutes of the half, forcing an IC timeout with the score at 34-32. IC Catholic steadied the ship, and went into the locker room with a 36-32 lead.
IC Catholic would build their lead to as many as 12 with under 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. At that point, Northridge made their move. Capped by multiple highlight-reel plays from Evan Kataoka '25, including a behind-the-back pass to Jacob Klatt '25 and an and-one of his own, the Knights went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to five to close the frame.
Northridge kept the momentum to begin the 4th quarter, tying things up at 51-51 with a Klatt layup at the 6:00 minute mark. The game would be played within a 3-point window from that moment forward. As defenses tightened and points became harder to come by, the Knights finally took the lead on a clutch Bo Arnold '25 corner three with 2 minutes remaining — 57-55. After IC Catholic tied it up on the next possession, Arnold went on the attack again, drawing a foul and hitting a pair of free throws to bump the Northridge lead back up to two. Kataoka tacked on another free throw to give the Knights a three-point lead with 3.7 seconds remaining. After a series of timeouts, IC Catholic's last second heave hit off the back iron, giving Northridge the heart-stopping win.
Entering the game with 19 wins on the year, IC Catholic was ranked as the #13 IHSA Class 2A team in the state, according to @NestoHoops.
Next up for Northridge is a Friday night tilt with Northside Prep inside "The Dungeon" at 6:00pm. The Knights will look to continue their winning ways as they work to make a late season push heading into the IHSA State tournament.
