On a night where it honored seniors London Cabrera, Tommy Hartman and Maalik Madrigal, the La Salle-Peru boys basketball team earned a hard-fought 55-48 victory over crosstown rival St. Bede . “It was a typical L-P versus St. Bede game – back and forth and very competitive,” L-P coach Jim Cherveny said. “The atmosphere was incredible as usual and both teams played hard. We also went though some adversity tonight when Josh (Senica) went down (sprained ankle), but other guys stepped up and filled roles which will definitely help us down the line as guys gained both experience and confidence. ” St. Bede senior Landon Jackson was pleased with the Bruins’ effort. “It is a rivalry but a fun one as we know each other really well and you want the bragging rights, but I was proud of the way we played tonight and they are a good team,” Jackson said. “There was a lot of energy in the building and we got down early but continued to work hard. Even though we didn’t get the win we got better and gained this experience, which will make us better the rest of the season. ” The Bruins struck first when Callan Hueneburg scored the first of his game-high 16 points with a 3-pointer from the corner before Madgrigal and St. Bede’s John Brady exchanged layups to make the score 5-2 Bruins. The Cavaliers got things going as Senica and Seth Adams (team-high 10 points) combined for the next seven points to give L-P a 9-5 lead. Hueneburg canned another 3 to bring the Bruins closer, but L-P responded in a big way and reeled off 10 straight points with Cabrera and Senica doing most of the damage. The Bruins got a couple of hoops from Connor Brown, but Adams buried a 3 at the horn to give the hosts a 24-12 lead after one period. The second period saw the Bruins claw their way back in as Hueneburg canned a pair of 3s and Isaiah Hart (14 points) started to heat up with six points to help St. Bede tie it at 26 with 1:35 left in the half. The Cavs again finished the period strong with a Jack Jereb jumper and a Cabrera layup to take a 30-26 lead into the locker room. The third period began with the L-P seniors Hartman and Cabrera tallying hoops to build the Cavalier advantage to 34-26. The teams traded hoops before L-P big man Senica tumbled to the floor and turned his ankle at the 5:32 mark in the quarter. The Bruins quickly closed the gap with a pair of Hueneburg treys and a Hart lay-in before L-P righted the ship as Adams went on a personal six-point run. Nicholas Olivero came off L-P’s bench to provide a spark with the final five points of the quarter and L-P led 46-39 after three periods. The Cavs extended their lead in the fourth with a Madgrigal layup and an Olivero (9 points) lay-in to make the score 50-39. “This is a big game,” Adams said. “I mean, a group of us that played together in grade school still hang around – the Bimas (Sam and Joe) and Evan (Entrican) are on their side and Josh, Brendan (Boudreau), Bobby (Baldin) and I are here and believe me there is a lot of talking and it feels great to have the bragging rights for another year. It’s a lot of fun to play against guys you know and you play hard but it’s a different kind of thing. It’s a great time. ” The Bruins once again battled back with a pair of Brady free tosses and a Hart hoop to get the lead down to seven, but that is as close as they got as the teams traded points the rest of the way. “We got down early, and to be honest, earlier in the year we may have given up and hung our heads, but tonight they continued to fight and we brought it all the way back to even the score,” St. Bede coach Brian Hanson said. “We had a flat spot there at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth and that ended up being the difference, but I have to be happy and proud of the effort. I know its cliché when you lose a game like this to say, but this kind of game and atmosphere will make us better in the postseason. I mean it was a great crowd on both sides that were really into the game and L-P is a good team. ”.