St. Viator 59, St. Joseph 55
St. Viator knew it had its work cut out in facing St. Joseph, the seventh-ranked team in Class 3A boys basketball state poll.
And the things got a bit tougher as the Lions fell behind 19-5 late in the first quarter.
St. Joseph increased its advantage to 16 points midway through the second quarter, but a gritty St. Viator team took a 1-point lead into the final quarter.
From there St. Joseph (12-4, 4-1) converted 11 of 16 free throws in the final quarter to hang onto a 59-55 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory in Westchester.
But St. Viator (6-8, 1-4) used a stingy defense, some clutch shooting by senior guard Michael Landuyt (15 points) and senior forward Eric Huber (11 points) to put a scare into the host Chargers.
"You always want to win," said Viator coach Joe Majkowski of his resilient squad. "But that was some of the best basketball we played this year. We turned the corner a little bit and I'm really proud of these guys."
The Chargers used a 15-0 run in the opening quarter converting three 3-pointers including a pair by Diamond Taylor (14 points) in taking a 19-5 advantage with 1:00 remaining in the quarter.
But Viator scored the final 5 points of the quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by sophomore guard Alan Aboona from over three-quarters of the court awa.
St. Joseph increased its advantage to 28-12 midway through the second quarter, but Viator narrowed the deficit to 35-22 at halftime.
The Lions then used a 12-2 run to begin the third quarter narrowing the deficit to 37-34 with 4:02 remaining in the quarter.
"We came out flat in the first half," said Landuyt who scored 5 points during the Lions surge. "Our coaches told us to pick it up at halftime. Our objective was to attack and not be scared."
Senior forward Matt O'Malley (8 points) combined with sophomore forward Richard McLoughlin (9 points and 10 rebounds) neutralizing the Chargers inside, while Landuyt, Huber, and Jim Platania pressured the guards, giving the Lions a 41-40 advantage entering the final quarter.
"The beginning of the third quarter we scored some points and got some stops," said Majkowski, whose team converted 7 of 14 shots to open the second half. "It started to give our kids the confidence that hey we can do this."
"They play us tough every year," said St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore. "I knew we were in for it."
But senior guard David Dixon scored 7 of his game high 18 points in the final quarter combining with junior guard Nate Rogers (11 points) who added 9 fourth-quarter points to repel the Lions upset bid.
"We were right where we wanted to be," added Landuyt of the Lions, who trailed by only 3 points with 25 seconds remaining. "I think this could be big for us heading into the second half of the season."