Loggers fall to Loyola Sacred Heart, 66-58

The Libby Loggers didn’t fare as well in the second outing of last weekend’s road trip, falling to the Rams of Loyola Sacred Heart, 66-58.

The Loggers started strong, leading by three after the first quarter and taking a one-point edge into the locker room at the half. The third quarter, however, was all Rams as the boys from Loyola poured in 20 points while holding the Loggers to just 13 to pull away to a six-point lead. The Loggers battled back in the fourth, but were unable to close the gap and eventually fell to the Rams by eight.

Freshman Ryggs Johnston led all scorers with 21 points, hitting seven of 16 from the field, six of which were from beyond the three-point arc. Jonny Cielak added another 11, along with six assists.

Head coach Josh Bean said the team played well, but needs to step up the defense as they head into tournament time.

“We played a strong first half,” he said. “Once again, our defense needs to be better. We have to get stops to win at tournament time. We allowed too many points in the second half. We had some mental breakdowns on defense. The good news is those types of mistakes are fixable.”