Marist denies St. Viator in Lions' home finale
St. Viator's boys basketball team was looking for some momentum going into next week's Class 4A postseason.
Instead, the Lions received another heartbreakingly close loss at Cahill Gymnasium in a 60-59 decision against Marist.
Chamar Hawkins (18 points) connected on a shot from just inside the 3-point line with 2.5 left in the game to secure the win and snuff out a brilliant St. Viator comeback.
"It's been rough with some of these end-of-the-game situations," said St. Viator coach Quin Hayes. "They made the shot when they had to."
The Lions finished the regular season at 17-7 and 5-4 in rugged East Suburban Catholic Conference.
St. Viator has been the victim of three losses by 2 points or fewer to Marian Catholic, Benet and Marist - all highly regarded teams.
The Red Hawks improved to 21-6 and 5-4 in conference play.
"There's been a lot of games in the conference this year like this," said Marist coach Gene Nolan. "St. Viator executed well on offense and played great defense. We were very fortunate to pull out the win on the road against a very good team."
The game featured six ties and 18 lead changes in a hard-fought contest.
Marist opened its largest lead of the game at 58-51 with 1:52 left after a basket by Maurice Commander, who scored 8 points.
St. Viator's Matt Trimberger fueled a 8-0 rally with a 3, which was followed by Jake Stepuszek's basket and then a 3-point play by Kevin Murphy (11 points) as the Lions grabbed a 59-58 lead with :44 remaining.
The Red Hawks missed a shot with :19 left, but in the battle for the rebound kept possession when the Lions knocked the ball out of bounds.
"That was a key moment," said Hayes. "If we secure the rebound, they don't get another chance."
With :13 left after a Marist timeout, the ball found its way to Hawkins for the game-winner.
With 1.9 on the clock, Murphy heaved the ball from just past mid-court; it hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
"That last play was for no one player," said Hawkins. "We just had to work against their man-to-man defense, looking for the best shot. We expected a tough game like this. It's like this every night in the ESCC."
Marist, though had a tough time at the free throw line, hitting 4 of 15 while the Lions stayed in the game by hitting 11 of 13.
"We had many of the seniors step up tonight," said Hayes. "Jake of course (17 points), Murphy, and Trimberger (10 points). I give a lot of credit to the kids for coming back like they did. These players just don't give up. Hopefully these types of experiences will pay off next week in the playoffs."
Stepuszek had nothing but praise and admiration for his teammates in their last home game.
"I couldn't ask for a better group of seniors to play with," said Stepuszek. "We've played together since sixth grade. We're best friends.
"Coach siad that even with these tough losses we've had it will make us better when the playoffs start. We really stuck with it tonight when we were down by 7 and took the lead. We'll be better for it in the playoffs."