Aljancic Scores 37 as Louisville Smashes Spire 91-64 – Boys Basketball
Louisville 91, SPIRE Institute 64
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The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team upended visiting SPIRE Institute 91-64 Friday Night at Louisville High School. With the victory, Louisville has now won 11 of their last 12 games and now holds a mark of 11-3 on the season.
Varsity Recap | Varsity Box Score
Aljancic Ties Career High with 37
Senior wing Will Aljancic scorched the nets with 7 three-pointers en rout to matching a career high with 37 points. Aljancic made 14 shots from the floor as the Leopards hit home 36 field goals as a team.
Aljancic made 3 three-pointers and scored 15 points in the opening quarter to help Louisville build a 29-11 advantage through the first eight minutes of action. He would tack on 3 more three-pointers as part of an 11 point third quarter as well.
Aljancic played until about the midway point of the fourth quarter and finished just 7 points short of the school’s home scoring record of 44. Daryl Murphy scored 44 points in the Leopards record-setting 102-50 win over Middlebranch at the old high school on February 14, 1955.
Most Individual Points Scored in a Home Game
| Points | Player | Date | Opponent/Result |
| 44 | Daryl Murphy | 2/14/1955 | Vs. Middlebranch W 102-50 |
| 40 | Blake Hoover | 2/23/2015 | Vs. Alliance W 86-72 |
| 38 | Chris Libertore | 12/10/2016 | Vs. Massillon L 60-64 |
| 37 | Will Aljancic | 1/20/2023 | Vs. SPIRE Institute W 91-64 |
Record-Tying 1st Quarter
The 29 points ties the known record for most points scored by a Leopards team in the first quarter. Louisville scored 29 points in the opening quarter of their 78-59 home win over the Norton Panthers last season on February 8, 2022. The Leopards also scored 29 points during the first quarter of their 86-72 victory over the Alliance Aviators that began on concluded on February 13, 2015.
The Leopards would double up SPIRE 48-24 by halftime. SPIRE came out of the locker room red hot from beyond the arch. They canned 6 of their 7 three-pointers on the night in the third quarter and trimmed the Louisville lead to 66-53 by the end of the period.
SPIRE only dressed six players for the game and their comeback ran out of steam in the fourth quarter. The Leopards dominated the final stanza 25-11 and Head Coach Tom Siegfried was able to clear the bench over the final few minutes of action.
Four Leopards Finish In Double Figures
Four different Louisville players finished with double digits. To go along with Aljancic’s 37, junior guard Hayden Nigro scored in every quarter and poured in 22 points for the Leopards.
Other Louisville players in double figures included sophomore forward Brayden Gross with 14 and sophomore point guard Beau Siegfried with 10. Rounding out the Leopard scoring was sophomore guard Tate Aljancic with 5 and senior guard Caden Wymer who cashed in a on three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to put Louisville over the 90-point mark.
Most Team Points Scored in a Home Game
This is the 10th time that the Leopards have scored over 90 points at home in their history. This is the fifth time Louisville has scored over 90 points under the direction of Head Coach Tom Siegfried and the third time at home during his tenure.
| Date | Opponent | W-L | Louisville | Opponent |
| 2/12/1955 | Middlebranch | W | 102 | 50 |
| 2/18/1977 | Fairless | W | 97 | 65 |
| 2/6/2010 | Cleveland East | W | 96 | 47 |
| 1992-1993 | Minerva | W | 95 | 66 |
| 2/2/1952 | Poland | W | 93 | 51 |
| 2/15/1955 | Minerva | W | 93 | 77 |
| 2/18/1992 | East Canton | W | 91 | 49 |
| 1/16/2015 | Marlington | W | 91 | 78 |
| 1/18/2019 | Youngstown East | W | 91 | 61 |
| 1/29/1971 | Jackson | W | 90 | 87 |
Calabrese Leads SPIRE with 22
Junior Landon Calabrese made 3 three-pointers and led SPIRE with a team high 22 points. Other players in double figures included junior Carlos Abraca with 18 and senior Braden Fredrickson with 12. Fredrickson scored all of his points in the third quarter via 4 three-point field goals.
Louisville is now 1-1 against SPIRE Academy all-time. The Leopards fell on the road at SPIRE Institute 75-65 during the 2019 season up in Geneva.
<<< Previous 2019 | SPIRE All-Time Series
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Akron Ellet Orangemen on Saturday, January 21. Freshman will begin at 4:00 PM with JV following at 5:30 PM and Varsity concluding the night with a 7:00 PM start from Louisville High School.
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SPIRE Institute at Louisville Varsity Statistics
LEOPARDS 91, SPIRE 64
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
SPIRE 11-13-29-11–64
Louisville 29-29-18-25–91
SPIRE: Calabrese 9 1-1 22, Abarca 8 2-3 18, Fredrickson 4 0-0 12, Ousmane 3 2-2 8, Okeyo 2 0-0 4. TOTAL 26 5-6 64.
3-Pointers (7): Fredrickson 4, Calabrese 3
Team FT: 5-6 83%
LEOPARDS: W. Aljancic 14 2-2 37, Nigro 9 3-4 22, Gross 6 2-3 14, Siegfried 4 0-1 10, T. Aljancic 2 0-0 5, Wymer 1 0-0 3. TOTAL 36 7-10 91.
3-Pointers (12): W. Aljancic 7, Siegfried 2, T. Aljancic, Nigro, Wymer
Team FT: 7-10 70%
Fouls: 10-9 Louisville
Records: Louisville 11-3
