NILES — Notre Dame’s Joe Mooney and Hinsdale Central’s Matt Rafferty have played on the same Chicago LockDown AAU team for the last three years. They’ve grown close as they’ve both developed into Division I prospects.
Mooney said he has never seen the 6-8 forward shoot the ball from the perimeter as well as he did in Hinsdale Central’s 74-70 victory over the Dons on Saturday night.
Rafferty went 15-of-18 from the field, and he was a perfect 5-for-5 on 3-pointers for the Red Devils (5-1). Rafferty finished with 39 points and 11 rebounds.
After the game, Mooney added that his good friend is impossible to guard when he’s shooting the ball as well as he did against the Dons (6-1).
“He’s an unbelievable player,” said Mooney, who finished with 37 points. “He plays so smart. He finishes. He gets to the free-throw line. Now you add the 3 into his game … he’s a great player.”
Rafferty drained four of his five 3-pointers during the first half. He knocked down the first from the corner, right in front of the Notre Dame bench. The next two came at the top of the key on the same play.
“They would have one guard cut through, and it was like an elevator — their two bigs would close the door,” Notre Dame junior forward Ammar Becar said. “Rafferty just pops out, and that’s where we had a little miscommunication on defense. He’s a good shooter, and he knocked them down.”
Afterward, Rafferty credited his teammates for his perfect 3-point shooting performance.
“Our guys did a great job of screening, so that left a lot of open shots,” he said. “Once I got into a rhythm early, it was easier to keep it going that way. I give [my teammates] all the credit. They distribute it unselfishly, and did a great job of that.”
Notre Dame limited Rafferty’s open looks from behind the arc in the second half by face guarding him, Becar said. Rafferty still had 17 points in the half, however. He even banked in a 3-pointer from slightly behind half court at the end of the third quarter to put the Red Devils ahead 58-45.
It was that kind of night for Rafferty, but Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre wasn’t that surprised by his performance. Latorre said Rafferty has been hitting 3s during each of the last three years.
That’s part of what makes Rafferty a Division I prospect — one who currently has offers from Dartmouth, Brown, Loyola, Toledo, Northern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago. He not only has a high basketball IQ, good athleticism and the ability to overwhelm most players in the post, he has the perfect counter.
“I was taught [from an early age] to shoot from the outside, and if I have an advantage over a slower guy who’s bigger, step out a little bit and challenge him that way,” Rafferty said.
Notre Dame notes
• Mooney, a senior guard, was sensational. He went 7-for-11 on 3-pointers. He also grabbed five rebounds, which tied senior forward Dan Messina for a team high.
• Becar finished with 19 points, despite jamming his right thumb twice earlier in the week. That didn’t affect his shot, however. He went 3-for-7 from behind the arc and was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.