Basketball Recap: Notre Dame Comes Up Short

Notre Dame played a tough game on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 77-38 defeat at the hands of the Linfield Christian Lions. While losing is never fun, the Titans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 820th, while the Lions are ranked 377th).

Despite the loss, Notre Dame saw an underclassman step up: freshman Jaxon Coduti dropped a double-double on 17 points and 15 boards. Those 15 rebounds set a new season-high mark for Coduti. Caiden Broughton was another key player, putting up 12 points and five rebounds.

Xavier Cox went supernova for Linfield Christian, going 8 of 15 from beyond the arc on his way to 32 points and three steals. That's the most steals Cox has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Julius Brower, who went 6 of 12 on his way to 14 points along with five assists and five steals.

Notre Dame dropped their record down to 2-5 with the defeat, which was their third straight at home. As for Linfield Christian, they now have a winning record of 6-5.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Notre Dame will take on Ontario Christian in a holiday battle at at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Ontario Christian knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past four matches -- so hopefully Notre Dame likes a good challenge. Linfield Christian and Vista Murrieta will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on December 17th. Vista Murrieta will roll in looking for their seventh straight win, something Linfield Christian surely won't give up without a fight.