By GREG MENGELT

LOUISVILLE — Loyola Marymount broke a 42-42 tie with 13:11 and pulled away to beat host Bellarmine 71-57 at Freedom Hall on Tuesday.

The Lions closed the game by outscoring the Knights 29-15.

Senior guard Joe Quintana, who had a game-high 28 points, broke the tie with a 3-point. That was the first 3 points in a pivotal 9-0 Loyola Marymount (7-5) run. Bellarmine (6-8) got no closer than 65-55 the rest of the way.

Senior guard Dylan Penn (Evansville/Memorial) led the Knights with 18 points, freshman forward Curt Hopf (North Montgomery/Barr-Reeve) added 13 and junior forward Sam DeVault (Evansville/Memorial) had 12 points off the Bellarmine bench. Former Providence standout Juston Betz was 0 for 2 from the field but had a team-best 11 rebounds to go along with 2 assists and 2 steals.

The Knights have seven days off before going to Peoria, Ill., to face Bradley (6-6), which has won two straight games and five of its last six, on Wednesday. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will air on ESPN3.

By GREG MENGELT

OLIVET, Mich. — Hanover nearly erased an 11-point deficit in the final 2 minutes but came up short in a 91-87 loss at Olivet (Mich.) on Tuesday evening.

The Panthers cut the deficit to 89-87 with 5 seconds left, but Olivet senior Eddie Thigpen, who had a game-high 26 points, knocked down a pair of free throws to help the Comets improve to 3-4 on the season.

Hanover is now 7-2 and returns to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday when it hosts Mount St. Joseph (4-5) at 7:30 p.m. It’s the Panthers’ first home game after four straight on the road.

Sophomore guard Max Greenamoyer (Zionsville/University) led the Panthers with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting. His 5 rebounds also tied senior guard Isaac Hibbard (New Albany) for team-high honors.

Junior forward Ty Houston (Union, Ky./Cooper) had 15 points and sophomore forward Matt Munoz (Indianapolis/Southport) added 14. Hibbard finished with 5 points and 3 assists to go with his 5 rebounds. He was 1 for 6 front the floor in the loss. Former Christian Academy star Noah Williams (Jeffersonville) finished with 5 points and 2 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Brice Gilman (Clinton/South Vermillion) had 9 points off the Panther bench.

By GREG MENGELT

Lane Hoefler had two huge performances with two career-high scoring nights and a career-best rebounding night in the Washington County Invitational. Hoefler finished the week with 59 points and 23 rebounds as the Senators finished third in the tournament.

On Friday, he had 26 points and 9 rebounds in the Senators’ 73-57 loss to Borden. He took it a step further in Saturday’s consolation game with 33 points and career-high 14 boards in West Washington’s 63-61 win over Salem.

Hoefler and the Senators go to Clay City for a tournament next week. They open Dec. 28 against Traders Point Christian (3-3) and will face either Fort Wayne North (2-6) or Benton Central (6-2) in the second round on Dec. 29.

OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
• Matthew Arthur, New Washington: The New Wash junior averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists as the Mustangs went 1-2. In Saturday’s 75-53 win over Crothersville, Arthur had a career-high 32 points.
• Cade Jones, Eastern: Last week’s Hoosier Hills Hoops Player of the Week had another big weekend. He had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in Eastern’s Washington County Invitational semifinal win over Salem, then put up 16 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds in Saturday’s championship win over Borden.
• Brysen Montgomery, Austin: The Austin senior had a pair of standout performances over the weekend. First, he had 27 points in a 65-51 loss to Paoli. Then, in Saturday’s 80-70 upset of Madison, Montgomery went for 27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Montgomery was 10 for 20 from behind the 3-point line over the weekend.
• Joshua Renfro, Christian Academy: Renfro, a freshman, averaged 20 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in the Warriors’ win over South Central and Charlestown. Renfro went 9 for 13 from deep over the weekend.

By GREG MENGELT

Emily Cissell scored 69 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, had 9 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocked shots to earn the Hoosier Hills Hoops Player of the Week honor as Borden went 2-1 last week.

Cissell started her week Tuesday in the Braves’ 44-39 overtime win over Southwestern on Tuesday with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance. Then, in a 52-40 loss to Shoals, the Borden junior had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. She finished her week with 32 points in the Braves’ 57-43 triumph at Milan. Cissell was 9 for 18 from the field, 7 of 14 from the 3-point line and made 7 of her 9 free throw attempts in the victory.

“Emily shot the ball well for us this week,” Borden coach Matt Vick said. “When she is able to get to the rim and shoot it from 3, she is tough to stop.”

OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
• Grace Denis, Providence: Denis knocked down five 3-pointers and led the Pioneers with 15 points in Tuesday’s 60-40 loss to Austin. Then on Saturday, she had a team-best 11 points as Providence beat Southwestern 47-37 with a balanced attack.
• Keegan Kaiser, Floyd Central: In a pair of games last week, Kaiser had 24 points, 9 steals, 6 rebounds and 5 assists as the Highlanders’ lost 49-40 at Seymour and 44-42 at home against Salem.

By GREG MENGELT

Eastern blew out host Salem then held off Borden to win the Washington County Invitational for the second straight year.

Cade Jones and Jacob Cherry were both named to the All-Tournament team and each scored 16 points in Friday’s win over the Lions. Jones then had 16 points and Cherry 13 points and 7 boards in the title game.

“Our team came out and fought hard in both games this week,” Eastern coach Chandler Prible said. “This group gained toughness and learned a lot about ourselves on their way to winning back-to-back holiday tournament championships.”

The Musketeers, who are now 6-1, are at New Washington (2-3) on Tuesday evening.

By GREG MENGELT

It was an historic week for Charlestown, which won its sixth game in a row — and its ninth victory in 11 games — with a rare win at Jeffersonville, 42-28 on Tuesday.

It was the Pirates’ first win at Johnson Arena since 1991, making Charlestown the Hoosier Hills Hoops Team of the Week.

“This is just a great program win for us,” Pirates head coach Scott Matthews told the News and Tribune.

Charlestown held the Red Devils to 22 percent from the field and juniors Laney Hawkins and Tatum McFarland scored 11 points apiece in the victory.

“We’re based on defense and we work on it a lot,” Hawkins told the NT. “Our defense contributes to our offense. We’ve been working hard the past week to be able to handle their pressure and try to take some good shots. I think we kept our composure and didn’t get rattled that much.”

The Pirates, who are now 4-2 on the road this season, host Corydon Central in Tuesday’s Hoosier Hills Hoops Game of the Night.