Best of Preps: Hot start helps Baylor boys advance past Notre Dame

Baylor boys' basketball coach Mark Price, shown during the Times Free Press Best of Preps Tournament in December 2018, and his Red Raiders got off to a good start at this year's tourney with a 55-33 win against Notre Dame on Thursday. / Staff file photo
Baylor boys' basketball coach Mark Price, shown during the Times Free Press Best of Preps Tournament in December 2018, and his Red Raiders got off to a good start at this year's tourney with a 55-33 win against Notre Dame on Thursday. / Staff file photo

It didn't take long for the Baylor boys' basketball team to reestablish itself among the favorites in the annual Times Free Press Best of Preps Tournament. The Red Raiders, who won last season's tournament title, took command early and led from start to finish in an impressive 55-33 win over Notre Dame during Thursday's first round at Chattanooga State.

"It was important for us to start fast and solidify who we were," Baylor coach Mark Price said. "Any time you can get out to an early lead like that, it sets the tone."

Junior post Nick Kurtz scored half of Baylor's 14 first-quarter points as the Red Raiders established a nine-point lead by the end of the period. With much of Notre Dame's defensive focus on Kurtz to begin the second quarter, it was sophomore guard Eli Sparkman who lived up to his name by scoring nine of his 11 points before halftime, helping extend his team's lead to 16.

"Eli is good already, but he has a chance to be a really nice player for us," Price said. "He's worked hard and has a lot of promise. He definitely gave us a spark to get us going in the first half."

Baylor (6-2) was coming off a 13-day layoff between games - which included eight days between practices over the holidays - but showed no ill effects. The Red Raiders limited Notre Dame to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters, and after the Fighting Irish had closed the gap to 12, Baylor put the game away with a 19-9 run in the fourth.

Kurtz, a multi-sport athlete for the Red Raiders, finished with a game-high 24 points, while Notre Dame (8-5) was led by Hayden Spurgeon and Cal Price, who each scored 10.

"That's tough when they have guys hitting from the outside, plus what Kurtz can do," Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams said. "We couldn't weather the storm, and we didn't make enough shots to keep up."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.

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