Defense comes through for St. Viator in opener

St. Viator turned in a strong defensive performance against a Harlan team that entered the season with high expectations and emerged with a 49-41 victory in the first round of its own Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament Tuesday.

The Lions, who play Highland Park at 6 p.m. today, made just 12-of-37 from the field, but they forced 19 turnovers and controlled the tempo.

"We figured they'd run the floor and trap us hard," said junior guard Alan Aboona, who led all scorers with 15 points, 10 in the second half.

The Falcons did use a trapping defense from time to time, but the Lions handled it well, committing just 11 turnovers. The running game didn't materialize as both teams stayed within their offenses.

"We're very happy with the effort," said St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski. "We were concerned about our defense and were shooting the ball well in practice. Tonight, the defense played better than we thought.

"With a team like Harlan, we told them 'you've got to stay in front of your man,'" Majkowski said.

Defense dominated the first half, which was tied at 7-7 after one quarter and 20-20 at halftime.

Aboona (5 points) and Jack Etchingham (4) sparked the Lions to a 34-31 third-quarter lead. Their defense helped put the game away in the fourth quarter.

After Harlan's Dondricas Kellum Jr. (team-high 10 points) cut St. Viator's lead to 34-33 with 6:49 left in the game, the Lions held Harlan scoreless for the next 4:03 while scoring 8 unanswered points, 5 by Etchingham, as they built a 42-35 lead with 2:46 left. Kellum was the only Harlan player to score in the fourth quarter until Eric Mitchell hit a pair of free throws with just 5.1 seconds remaining.

The Lions were 11-of-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

Etchingham finished with 9 and Richard McLoughlin and K.J. Sherwood 6 each for St. Viator.

"We think we can play better offensively," Majkowski said. "We certainly hope the defense continues to play well."