Notre Dame edges St. Viator

Notre Dame finally forced St. Viator guard Alan Aboona into a shot he couldn't make Tuesday night.

But not by much after Aboona carved up the Dons for 15 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter. The junior's desperation 50-foot heave hit the front of the rim at the buzzer as Viator fell just short 53-52 in the second round of the 31st annual Wildcat Hardwood Classic boys basketball tournament at Wheeling.

"In the course of the game I might have gotten a foul called," Aboona said of getting bumped after taking the inbound pass out of a timeout with 4.3 seconds left, "but with four seconds left I didn't expect to get a foul called. I thought I had it (the last shot)."

And it was a game each of the East Suburban Catholic Conference rivals thought they had as Notre Dame (7-1) advanced to Friday's 8:45 p.m. semifinal against Naperville Central (10-1), a 55-48 winner over Libertyville.

Viator (7-4) nearly overcame missing 20 of its first 25 shots en route to a 26-15 deficit, 1-for-15 3-point shooting and a 37-21 rebound deficit as it will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Libertyville.

"Down the stretch guys on each team made huge shots," said Viator coach Joe Majkowski.

"We were making plays and they were making plays," Aboona said. "They just made the last one."

Aboona couldn't miss once he got into the lane in the fourth quarter with a drive breaking a 44-44 tie with 2:19 left. His 2 free throws after a Notre Dame turnover put Viator up 48-45 at 1:15.

But Notre Dame responded as senior Jimmy Martin (17 points) ran through a series of baseline screens to hit his fourth 3-pointer with 59 seconds left.

"Jimmy saved us with that 3," said Notre Dame guard Mike DiGregorio, who had 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. "We wouldn't be in the position we're in without his 3. It bailed us out."

Aboona came back and found Richard McLoughlin (10 points, 9 rebounds) for a layup with 44 seconds left. DiGregorio then stepped back and hit a 3 with a defender in his face to put the Dons up 51-50 with 28.6 seconds to play.

Aboona countered with a tough turnaround in the lane with 13 seconds left to put Viator up 52-51.

"They were really denying the passes so it was more 1-on-1 and I was able to drive the lane and get to the basket," Aboona said. "I just kind of threw it up there sometimes."

But DiGregorio had one more shot and he banked in a tough drive in the right baseline with five seconds left.

"He (DiGregorio) is a great player, just like Alan is," Majkowski said. "Alan said he was going to win it for Viator but they had the last one."

But not by much.