De La Salle has traveled the country this season. The Meteors played in Florida, New York and Kentucky. The results were mixed overall and the city’s basketball scene has a fairly myopic focus, so out of sight means out of mind. 

But De La Salle has returned for the final stretch of the season and has a series of challenging local games that will put Gary DeCesare’s talented squad back in the spotlight. 

The Meteors lost their first local test, falling to St. Laurence on Jan. 9. So there was a lot to prove Friday at St. Ignatius. 

Both teams were sluggish in the first half and then De La Salle senior Richard Lindsey came alive in the third quarter, scoring 12 consecutive points to give the Meteors a lead they never relinquished. 

The Wolfpack had a chance to tie or win it on their last possession but turned the ball over. It resulted in a slam dunk from senior Tavariyuan Williams that sealed a 62-58 win for De La Salle. 

“Handling adversity has been key for us and had some adversity in that first half, shooting 1-for-9,” Lindsey said. “But being a leader, I couldn’t let that ruin my energy and had to come out even stronger in the second half.”

Lindsey finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. His 12 consecutive points turned a two-point De La Salle lead into a 46-37 advantage. 

“We jumped on Lindsey at halftime,” DeCesare said. “His shots were right there but he was missing bunnies. The best thing Lindsey did was he calmed everyone down in the big moments. He showed great leadership. That’s what I’m really thankful for.”

Williams scored eight and grabbed four rebounds and sophomore Charles Barnes added 12 points and five rebounds for De La Salle (14-8, 2-2 Catholic League Blue). Sophomore Remi Edwards gave the Meteors an energy lift off the bench in the second half, scrapping for loose balls and pulling down six rebounds. 

“Remi is our enforcer,” DeCesare said. “He’s really coming along.”

The Meteors’ offense isn’t flowing smoothly yet and several defensive letdowns led to wide-open shots for St. Ignatius. But De La Salle’s overall talent level is high. Lindsey and Williams will play college basketball and Barnes, Edwards and Morgan Travis are three of the area’s better sophomores. 

“Every win is big for us,” Lindsey said. “Those out of town experiences have helped. We handled different styles and different places. It was tiring but it was all for the better.”

Junior Phoenix Gill and senior Reggie Ray scored 13 points for St. Ignatius (13-9, 1-3) and sophomore Chris Bolte added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. 

St. Ignatius entered on a six-game winning streak that included an impressive victory against Rich. It’s been an up-and-down campaign for the Wolfpack, which lost to De La Salle 70-56 in the first week of the season. 

“In the third quarter we got away from what had gotten us the lead in the first half,” Wolfpack coach Matt Monroe said. “We started playing more one-on-one and didn’t share it as much. We were over-dribbling a little bit.”