Better start, but Viator falls short at St. Pat
The St Viator basketball team looked poised to pick up a much-needed East Suburban Catholic victory Friday night against visiting St. Patrick for much of the contest.
But second-half turnovers and poor shooting down the stretch would ultimately spell the Lions' demise.
Despite leading for more than half the game, St. Viator fell to the Shamrocks 53-39 in Arlington Heights.
"I thought (St. Patrick's) defense really rattled us in the second half," Lions coach Joe Majkowski said. "We had some good looks and some not-so-good looks, but they forced us into a lot of turnovers."
St. Viator (2-5, 1-2) led 16-8 midway through the second quarter before the Shamrocks went on an 8-3 run to end the half.
St. Patrick (5-2, 3-0) was aided by the strong-willed effort underneath the basket from senior Jerome Robinson, (7 points, 11 rebounds) as well as the excellent guard play of junior Tim Traversa, who led all scorers with 15 points off the bench.
"We just made some shots," Shamrocks coach Mike Bailey said of his team's second-half turnaround. "In the first half we would get reckless with the ball at times. In the second half, we kept the ball in front of us."
With a 3-point halftime advantage, St. Viator came out playing aggressively in the third quarter, largely encouraged by the hustle of senior forward Eric Huber.
Huber, who led all Lions scorers with 11 points in addition to 8 boards, scored 4 quick points to start the third as a result of 2 self-created steals.
"We were able to limit our turnovers (in the first half), but (St. Patrick) was able to get too many big offensive and defensive rebounds," Huber said. "The help side needs to get better and we need to box people out.
"We can't let any one player, like (Traversa) did, take over the game."
Despite the Lions' early energy in the second half, St. Patrick eventually wore down Viator's defensive effort, ending the third quarter ahead by 6 after finishing the quarter on a 9-0 run.
In the fourth, despite closing the gap to 4 points, St. Viator failed to contain the fastbreak offense that allowed the Shamrocks to convert several easy layups.
For Bailey, a resident of Mount Prospect and proud father of former Prospect girls player Kellyn, the win took on even more importance than simply another victory for his team.
"It's a great rivalry," Bailey said of Friday's matchup. "(Viator) has a class program here. I think Joe (Majkowski) is one of the best coaches in the conference. I give a great amount of credit to him and his staff."
St. Joseph 56, Carmel 40: St. Joseph's coach Gene Pingatore became the third boys basketball coach in Illinois to win 800 games in the East Suburban Catholic Conference game in Westchester. Pingatore joins Dick Van Scyoc (826 wins at Armington, downstate Washington, Peoria Manual) and Arthur Trout (810 at Centralia).