At long last, St. Viator tops Fenton

It was worth the wait for St. Viator’s girls basketball team.

After its game with the host school of the Fenton tournament had twice been postponed due to extremely cold weather (Jan. 6 and Jan 20), the Lions and Bison finally played each other on Thursday night in Bensenville.

St. Viator (14-3) was obviously eager to play.

The Lions raced out to an 18-2 lead after one quarter and never looked back en route to a 55-24 triumph which gave the Lions second place in the tournament.

Juniors Maddie McAteer and Kayne Stanley were named to the all-tourney team.

Back-to-back baskets by McAteer gave the Lions a 6-2 lead midway through the opening eight minutes.

A 3-pointer by senior guard Erin Fabbri and inside bucket from classmate Sam Hogan made it 11-2 with less than 2:30 to go in the period.

Fabbri’s game-high 15 points gave her 1,015 for her career and moved her into the No. 3 spot all time at St. Viator behind Denise Walker (1,552) Lauren Weber (1,196) and just ahead of Susan Hohenadel (1,000).

Fabbri’s putback and five straight points from junior Susie Moynihan gave Viator its big first-quarter advantage.

Stanley fired home a 3-pointer from half-court just before the second-quarter buzzer giving the Lions a 29-10 lead at intermission and they led 45-19 after three quarters.

Junior Molly Murphy gave the Lions a spark off the bench.

All but one player on coach Christina Jost’s roster scored in the contest.

The Lions, who host a regional, were awarded the No. 6 seed in the Class 3A Ridgewood sectional.