Hinsdale Central’s Matt Rafferty and Notre Dame’s Joe Mooney absolutely lit up a half-full gym Saturday in Niles.
Rafferty, a 6-8 senior forward, scored 39 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He shot 15-for-18 from the field and 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Mooney, a 6-2 senior, responded with 37 points. He shot 13-for-19 from the field and 7-for-11 from 3-point range.
Both teams were also impressive, Hinsdale Central a bit more so as the No. 12 Red Devils grabbed a 74-70 win over the No. 17 Dons.
Mooney and Rafferty are team-first guys, but make no mistake, the two AAU teammates (on Chicago Lockdown) are playing for their futures this season. They are both currently uncommitted.
‘‘(Recruiting) kind of slowed down for me over the summer,’’ Rafferty said. ‘‘Hopefully both [Mooney] and I can get some more looks and find out where we want to go.’’
Rafferty currently has offers from Dartmouth, Brown, Loyola, Toledo, Northern Illinois and UIC. He said he would consider playing in the Ivy League but would prefer to stay closer to home.
Mooney also has offers, but is hoping a big season with Notre Dame can increase and improve his options as well.
The Red Devils (5-1) are much more than just Rafferty.
The team played like they were in midseason form, with quick and crisp passes and a solid defensive plan that (along with some foul trouble) helped limit the Dons’ effective undersized post player, Ammar Becar (19 points, two rebounds).
‘‘I think we’ve played pretty well all season,” Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre said. ‘‘Tonight we had to, they are good. We played unselfishly. I haven’t looked but it seems like we assisted on more than two-thirds of our baskets.’’
George Kiernan, a 6-6 senior, scored 15 for Hinsdale Central and guard Jordan Bradshaw added seven points.
The game was very close in the first half but the Red Devils opened things up in the third quarter and led the Dons (6-1) 58-45, heading into the fourth.
There was a particularly spectacular sequence at the end of third.
Mooney drained a 3-pointer with three seconds left and Rafferty responded by hitting a shot from the half-court line at the buzzer.
‘‘Matt’s not your average big man,’’ Latorre said. ‘‘He’s not lumbering or awkward.”
Hinsdale Central’s only loss so far is to top-ranked Stevenson.
‘‘That definitely helped us,’’ Rafferty said. “It showed us the intensity we have to play with if we want to be one of the top teams.
‘‘I think we are close. We got down fast in that game but then were able to cut it down a bit.”