No letdown for St. Viator
St. Viator had no letdown Tuesday night between East Suburban Catholic Conference showdowns.
The Lions (17-3) used a big third quarter to knock off Francis Parker 68-41 in a nonconference boys basketball game at Cahill Gym in Arlington Heights.
Sophomore Ore Arogundade led a balanced attack with 16 points as they led 39-26 at halftime and outscored Parker 20-4 in the third quarter. The Lions, who lead the ESCC at 4-0, host two-time defending champion Benet (15-4, 2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We shared the ball well and that was a good thing,” said Viator coach Mike Howland. “But we’re going to have to rebound the ball better on Thursday. That’s going to be the big thing because for us.
“We have to box them out because they’re big and they go to the glass well. (Six-foot-9 sophomore Sean) O’Mara is really tough and they’re just so good defensively.”
Kevin Walsh added 10 points and Chris Myjak and Mayo Arogundade added 8 points apiece for the Lions. They were coming off an 80-74 ESCC win at Marian Catholic on Saturday afternoon where sophomore guard Tyler Ulis scored 38 points.
“When I went back and watched the tape, we didn’t play that bad defensively,” Howland said. “Ulis is really, really good and he was even better that day.”
Parker junior Langdon Neal led all scorers with 18 points.
Maine West 45, Wheeling 44: Free-throw shooting and defense helped Maine West (11-9) hold on for its third straight win in the nonconference game at Rider Gym in Des Plaines.
The Warriors were 12-for-16 at the line and Will Hepburn had the assignment of containing Wheeling (1-19) sophomore Jeremy Stephani (14 points, four 3-pointers).
“I thought defensively we played great,” said Maine West coach Erik McNeill. “We were going to rotate defenders on Jeremy but Will was doing such a good job we decided to go with him.”
Conor Hart had a game-high 17 points for Maine West and Kevin Garcia and Dylan Carson added 10 points apiece. Wheeling made nine 3s as Chris Pierro (11 points) hit three and Charlie Kirk (8 points) hit two.
Lamont McPherson added 9 points for the Wildcats.
Schaumburg 55, Glenbrook South 34: Junior Kevin Curnow turned his opportunity into a career-high 12 points as Schaumburg (16-5) cruised to the nonconference win at the Titan Dome in Glenview.
Curnow led a balanced attack where Christian Spandiary and Kyle Bolger scored 11 points apiece and Jimmy Lundquist added 8 points. The Saxons led 15-4 after a quarter, 29-14 at halftime and 45-24 after three as the Mid-Suburban West leaders at 6-1 tuned up for Friday’s game at Fremd (13-8, 5-2).
Jon Busiel’s 8 points led Glenbrook South (5-15).