Back when they were freshmen, in December 2011, Bishop Ludden boys basketball players Jack Rauch and Zach Walser suffered a rare low point in a career that would include three Section III titles and a state championship, watching as the Gaelic Knights took a defeat to archrival Christian Brothers Academy.
Since then, Ludden has taken command of the “Holy War”, and, now, as seniors, Rauch and Walser made absolutely sure that their last encounter with the Brothers did not end like the first.
In Friday night’s clash at Buddy Wleklinski Court, Rauch continued his recent hot streak with a first-half flurry that pushed his side well out in front, and then Walser did the rest with a big second half as the Gaelic Knights defeated the Brothers 75-59.
“As seniors, we wanted to close it out against CBA with a win, and we did,” said Walser.
When these two sides had played Jan. 18 at SRC Arena in the Zebra Classic, Ludden had won 59-46, largely due to a defense that shut the Brothers down for long stretches of the second half to break a close game open.
Less than four weeks later, both teams arrived at the rematch with 16-2 records and both were state ranked – the Gaelic Knights no. 17 in Class AA, the Brothers no. 14 in Class A.
What was different, though, was that Rauch, who played through illness in mid-season, was feeling better – and on a tear. He had scored 31 points in a win over Jamesville-DeWitt on Feb. 6 and, on Tuesday, had bettered that career mark with 33 points in Ludden’s tough 73-68 win over Cortland.
As Rauch put it, “we needed some offense. I needed to step up my role, so I started shooting, they started going in and I got on a roll.”
Even on its home court, and even with the festive atmosphere of the “Holy War” and Senior Night festivities to spur them on, CBA could not prevent Rauch from continuing to light it up.
Barely a minute into the game, Rauch already had converted on a hook shot and a 3-pointer, and Ludden had the lead for good. By the end of the first quarter, Rauch had 12 points, but a push by the Brothers, capped by a banked-in Charles Pride 3-pointer at the horn, kept the lead at 19-16.
It didn’t matter what CBA tried on the defensive side. From outside shots to tip-ins of his teammates’ misses, Rauch kept converting, ultimately getting 19 of his 23 points in those first two periods.
“They (CBA) simply couldn’t guard him,” said Walser.
Spurred by Rauch’s numbers, plus 10 points from Walser and six from Mika Adams-Woods, Ludden closed the half on a 24-6 run, and a game most figured would be tight instead had the Gaelic Knights out in front 44-24 going to the break.
The second half turned into a futile chase for the Brothers. Every time it strung together baskets and gave the home crowd a reason to hope, Ludden snuffed it out, and Walser had much to do with it.
With CBA harassing Rauch every time he touched the ball, Walser dropped in his team’s first 10 points of the second half, ultimately finishing with 25 points and getting the ideal finish to a regular season that any Ludden senior could want.
About the only downside was that Ludden now has to wait more than a week before it starts in the Section III Class AA playoffs as the no. 3 seed with its quarterfinal Feb. 24 against no. 6 seed West Genesee. But Rauch said he wasn’t worried about it.
“The break will be good,” said Rauch. “It will give our bodies a rest before we get back in action.”
