Team approach benefits St. Viator
With guards Susan Hohenadel and Kelly Hendricks scoring more than half of its points, St. Viator's girls basketball team moved into the semifinals of its Snowflake Tournament on Tuesday afternoon.
But while those two guards were clicking with 3-pointers and fastbreak layups (26 combined points) in the 47-27 victory over Northside College Prep, Mary Calov, Jamie Blenner and Colleen Nolan often got the Lions rolling with rebounds and physical play in the paint.
"They are a good, physical team," said Northside coach Mike Heavey. "And if you don't close in on their shooters, they'll hurt you on the outside."
Hohenadel popped in a pair of 3-pointers en route to a game-high 16 points.
Hendricks added 10 points, getting most of her buckets on fastbreak layups.
Meanwhile Nolan (7 rebounds), Calov (6) and Blenner (5) worked the boards.
"Colleen, Mary and Jamie did a great job rebounding," said Lions coach Paul Bjerkness, whose Lions improved to 10-4 and 3-0 in the Snowflake. "As a team, we did a good job with rebounding and transition. I thought we brought a lot of energy to the floor and did good job of sharing the basketball.
"We had a balanced inside and outside game and we put a lot of pressure on them defensively."
After St. Viator fell behind 2-0, Hohenadel drove the lane for an 8-footer and the Lions were off to a 15-2 run, capped by Hohenadel's 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in the first quarter.
"This is the most successful team I've played on since I've been here," said Hohenadel, a three-year varsity player. "It's really fun because of our chemistry and how well we play together."
Northside (5-9, 2-1 in the tourney) never got closer than 9 and trailed by double digits most of the way.
"I thought our defensive pressure won the game for us," Hohenadel added. "We've been able to do that in all our wins so far in the tournament."
Hendricks, Hohenadel and Nolan each had 2 steals. Blenner chipped in 6 points.
Hendricks scored the final 2 baskets of the third quarter on plays started by Calov.
The junior forward blocked a shot and tossed an outlet pass to Bridget Urbanus, who led Hendricks perfectly for a layup.
Calov followed with a long rebound and lofted a pass ahead to Hendricks who went on for another layup and 39-21 lead after three quarters.
"This was our hardest game in the tournament," Calov said. "It was out toughest test."
The Lions' next test will be against Leyden (2-1 in the tourney) in Friday's 12:30 p.m. semifinals. The winner plays in Saturday's 2 p.m. title game and faces the winner of the Niles West -Northside semifinal.
"It was a trifecta of bad for us," Heavey said. "We missed layups. We did not box out. And we made too many turnovers."