Notre Dame hosted Scottsdale's Saguaro in this matchup - Notre Dame holding a 5-5 conference record, while Saguaro came in with an impressive 9-2 conference record.
The game started out slow and unexciting. With Saguaro’s big three scorers, expectations were that it would be a shootout, but it was just the opposite at the start. Despite Saguaro’s dynamic scoring ability, Notre Dame did a good job defensively and found themselves down only 13-10 after one. Despite the Saints' solid defensive effort, their offense was practically non-existent throughout the quarter, with a few buckets here and there. To have any chance, they would have to find some offensive output while continuing to play solid defense.
The second quarter came and it was the same story. Nobody was able to get anything going offensively for Notre Dame. Despite holding Saguaro to 24 points in the first half, they only put up four points in the second quarter and found themselves down 24-14 at half.
The Saints were led by Grant Martinez who was the only source of offense, scoring 8 points and collecting 6 boards.
For Saguaro, the brothers Mike and Matt Hauser each scored 8 in the first half.
The second half came and Saguaro began to really break away. They just started hitting shots, while Notre Dame continued to struggle on offense. 36-19 was the score after three, with Saguaro all over Notre Dame.
Saguaro would go on to score 14 in the final quarter and win it 50-27.
Saguaro was led by Mike and Matt Hauser who each finished with 12 points. Matt, the younger brother, finished with (3) three-pointers and four steals. Alec Kretch also had 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Saints' offense came mainly from Grant Martinez, who finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Austin Vedder was the second highest scorer with five.
Younger standouts: The Notre Dame Freshman game was controlled by two Saints' players - Tony Vulaj who scored 14 in the game, and Brad Swetonic who flirted with a triple-double (8 points, 10 rebounds and 9 blocks).
