Defensive stand helps Viator past Libertyville

Although the calendar flipped to basketball season on Monday, St. Viator was still in football mode.

The Lions came up with the basketball version of a goal-line stand in the second quarter. That enabled St. Viator to pull away and the hold off Libertyville 60-52 in the opening game of the Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament at St. Viator in Arlington Heights.

"I was really happy with our defense in the second quarter," St. Viator coach Quin Hayes said. "It won us the basketball game. We gave up 12 points in the first 6½ minutes of the game. So we called timeout and told our kids that was unacceptable."

The message was received load and clear by the Lions. They held Libertyville without a field goal for nearly nine minutes and turned a 12-11 deficit into a 26-14 lead.

During that span both St. Viator and Libertyville were with without their star players. Viator's Jeremiah Hernandez and Libertyville's Drew Peterson found themselves on their benches, both with 3 fouls.

St. Viator was able to play tremendous defense on a Libertyville team that leans hard on Peterson to score. That gave the the Lions a 28-16 lead at the half.

"We were able to get him into foul trouble and that was key," Hayes said. "Boy, he can play. He was a tough mismatch for us."

With Peterson back in the lineup for the Libertyville, the Wildcats climbed back into the game in the third quarter. Peterson finished with 25 points, 17 of which came in the second half, and Libertyville pulled to within 8 at 41-33 on a basket by Josh Steinhaus.

Now it was Hernandez's turn to take over.

The junior, who had just 3 points in the first half, ignited a 9-0 run, scoring the first 3 buckets for the Lions and finding Connor Kuchera open for his third 3-pointer of the game as Viator led 50-33 with 6:35 to play.

"It was just first-game jitters," said Hernandez, who finished with 18 points. "I just picked it up in the second half. I couldn't get into the flow early. But I was able to find it in the second half."

Libertyville, which missed its first 13 points from outside the arc, finally found the mark. With some hot outside shooting and the play of Peterson inside, Libertyville closed to 57-50 with 1:03 to play on a 3 by Steinhaus.

But a 3-point play by Hernandez and some solid defense on Peterson gave Viator the victory at the end.

"I know Peterson finished with 25 points," said St. Viator's Peter Lambesis, who along with other Lion defenders tried to slow Peterson. "But we shut him down at the end on some key possessions."

Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski said poor shooting early in the game hurt his team.

"That first half, we came out cold," Zyrkowski said. "I have to give our guys credit. They fought hard. They cut it to 7 at the end of the game. We needed a couple of shots to fall and some stops on the defensive end."

Treyvon Calvin had 12 points on three 3s for St. Viator while Connor Kochera also had 3 three-pointers and finished with 10 points. Lambesis added 9 points for the Lions.

Steinhaus finished with 7 points while Simberg had 5 points.