Notre Dame 64, St. Viator 41

Coming off three straight wins last week and a consolation championship at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic, the St. Viator boys basketball team was on a roll as it headed into an East Suburban Catholic contest at Niles Notre Dame.

But the Dons showed the Lions that it takes a little more than momentum to win a game.

"That doesn't mean anything," said St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski of his team's successes heading into the game. "(We didn't play well on) both ends of the floor. (Notre Dame's defense) was a part of it -- what we were trying to do was also a part of it."

Notre Dame's defense mixed with Viator's chilly shooting turned Friday's game into a disappointing 64-41 Lions loss.

St. Viator (6-7, 1-3) kept things close early with Bryce Hensley (6 points), Alan Aboona (9), Michael Landuyt (10) and Eric Huber all contributing baskets.

The Lions cut a 7-point deficit to 18-14 at the first-quarter buzzer after an Aboona basket.

But in the second quarter, the Dons produced a 13-0 run that lasted about five minutes to put some distance on the Lions.

After Zach Abraham's second 3 to open the second half, the Lions spent much of the rest of the game chasing at least a 20-point deficit.

"We have to figure out (how to recover from games like this). That's why we have meetings," Majkowski said. "You learn from what you didn't do well. Hopefully, that's what we can take from it."

While the Lions focused some defensive pressure on Zach Abraham, Billy Hughes got to work.

Hughes scored the first 12 points of the Game for Notre Dame (7-6, 3-1) on his way to a game-high 18.

According to Dons coach Tom Les, that's a testament to his team's depth.

"We have five or six guys that can score," Les said. "Nobody's averaging in the double figures -- but anybody's capable of 20 -- so who do you pick to stop?"

Nine Dons got in on the scoring, including Doug Wollney and Shawn Wallace, who scored 12 apiece off the bench.

"We played good and we shot the ball well," Les said. "The first quarter, they were tough. The second quarter, we turned it up a little on defense and got some turnovers. Then we got some easy shots. You play better defense when you make shots, and we made shots."