By Noah Poser

Entering Thursday’s game against Amundsen, Lake View already had plenty to celebrate both on and off the court.

Between the school observing its 150th anniversary, the varsity boys basketball team sitting in first place with a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play and senior captain Daniel Loza recently surpassing the 1,000 career point mark, the school was enjoying a prosperous start to 2025.

And after beating Amundsen 74-66 to claim at least a share of the White North Conference title, their first White Division title in program history, the good times will continue to roll for at least a little while longer for the Wildcats (10-8).

“I used to sit outside this school about six or seven years ago and dream about this for these kids,” Wildcats coach Todd Patterson said. “I came from Evanston, a winning program, so I know what it’s like to win and have the privilege that comes with that, and I wanted these kids to have that experience. I used to watch their games on YouTube and see how people disrespected them and didn’t treat them as competitors, so it means the world to me that we were able (to win a conference title) to check this box.”

Victory didn’t come easy for Lake View, as Amundsen (11-3) appeared to have the early edge, leading late into the second quarter.

Then, just before halftime, Loza took over. 

Trailing 29-24 with just over two minutes to go in the second quarter, Loza proceeded to spark an 11-3 Lake View run to end the half. After scoring five in the first quarter, he finished the first half with 19 points, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range to give the Wildcats a three-point lead at the break.

Loza continued to overwhelm the Vikings’ defense with 11 quick points to start the third quarter, leading Amundsen coach Nicholas White to employ an aggressive zone defense after playing man-to-man the entire game up to that point. 

“We were ready for that,” Loza said. “We knew they were going to switch to a zone and we’ve been running that all day in practice, so when that came, we were ready. 

“We’re all hoopers, so we knew what we needed to do and switched our minds instantly to running the offense we needed to run from there.”

The offense from there included heavier doses of junior Dyami Rolon and sophomore Foster Van Vliet. The Vikings were able to use the zone to finally contain Loza, but with Rolon patrolling the inside and Van Vliet providing the Wildcats with a secondary outside shooter, Lake View was able to weather the storm. 

Amundsen would go on one final run towards the end of the fourth quarter to cut the Lake View lead to three, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

“The kid (Loza), I’ll give it up to him, he’s pretty good,” White said. “He hit a lot of shots. I think down the stretch we missed a couple layups that could have changed the game, but ultimately I’m proud of my guys. We played hard and you know, we still came up short. They shot lights out. It happens. I want it back, but we have to move forward. 

“We’re looking towards the city playoffs. We want to win that and we want to get better from this loss. I feel great about our chances.”

Loza finished the game with 32 points, a new career-high, on 8-of-11 shooting from behind the arc to lead the Wildcats. Further contributors for Lake View included Rolon with 14 points and Van Vliet with 12 points, all coming from three-point range. Senior captain Frank Fregoso added five points, 10 assists and five steals.

For Amundsen, seniors Ashawn Powell and CJ Fortier and juniors Jackson Tate and Nour Mohammad all scored in double figures in a balanced Vikings attack.

Now, both teams turn their attention towards what to come. Both Lake View and Amundsen each have one conference game remaining before wrapping up the regular season. Then, come the start of February, all eyes will be back on these two teams when the CPL Playoffs get underway.

But before looking ahead to what’s next, Loza wanted to take one final look back at what he and his team accomplished and what it means to him.

“My dad went here,” Loza said. “He was a swimmer, he wasn’t even a basketball player, but just to come to the school that my dad was at, and to achieve this, it means a lot to me. I just try to put my head down and work hard, and that’s all this is. And I wouldn’t have been able to have done it without my teammates.”

Photos by Jack Lydon