Mooney, ND deal St. Viator an ESCC setback

St. Viator picked a bad night to have a bad night.

Hosting East Suburban Catholic Conference leader Notre Dame on Friday, the Lions were playing with the chance to move into a first-place tie with the Dons, but that was not to be.

The combination of ice-cold shooting for three quarters and the hot hand of Notre Dame's Joe Mooney were enough to send the Lions to a 58-41 defeat in Cahill Gym.

"In the first half, offensively, we weren't aggressive," St. Viator coach Quin Hayes said. "We were on our heels."

The Lions (14-9, 5-2) trailed 12-9 after the first quarter and 23-14 at halftime.

"The defense was pretty darn good in the first half," Hayes said. "We pride ourselves in our defense, but at some time you have to put the ball in the hole."

In the first half, St. Viator was 5 of 21 from the field and followed that with 2 of 14 in the third quarter, when Notre Dame broke the game open to lead 40-20.

"Any time you put the ball in the basket, you get more energy on the defensive end," Hayes said. "We just couldn't get that going."

Mooney led all scorers with 25 points, including 6 3-pointers. Teammate Ammar Becar chipped in with 14 points.

"There was a huge emphasis on defense," Mooney said. "We contested well and played good team defense."

He also thought getting off to a fast start offensively was a huge factor. He scored on his first 3 shots, including a pair of 3s.

"When he hits a couple of early baskets, it makes the basket bigger for the rest of us," Dons coach Tom Les said.

Patrick McNamara led St. Viator with 15 points. Sal Cannella scored 12, and Jake Stepuszek added 10.