St. Viator singes Deerfield

St. Viator grabbed an early lead and withstood a Deerfield rally and a 15-minute interruption when the fire alarm went off late in the fourth quarter to complete the 31st Annual Wildcat Hardwood Classic boys basketball tournament at Wheeling with a 46-41 victory Saturday for fifth place in the 16-team tournament.

"We're happy to be 3-1 in the tournament," St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski said. "Our only loss was 1 point (to Notre Dame). We made some progress."

The Lions' aggressive man-to-man defense held the Warriors (4-8) to a single free throw in the first quarter, while Richard McLoughlin scored 6 of his 8 points to give the Lions (9-4) a 9-1 lead, which it never relinquished despite a furious Deerfield second-half rally.

St. Viator led 21-11 at halftime, and showed patience against Deerfield's zone.

"Deerfield did a nice job with the zone," Majkowski said. "The zone slows it down. I don't think we ran the offense real well."

The Lions picked up the pace in the second half and stretched their lead to 30-18 after a pair of jumpers by Dan Faerber (4 points) and a basket by Brendan King (6) with 3:15 left in the third quarter.

"We were trying to run the floor," said Alan Aboona, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, as the Lions were staving off Deerfield's comeback effort. "We battled tough. It's nice to be 3-1."

Deerfield's Duje Dukan ignited the Warriors in the fourth quarter with 12 of his game-high 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that cut St. Viator's lead to 42-41 with 1:08 remaining.

Aboona made both free throws with 16.4 seconds left, and K.J. Sherwood did likewise with 5.5 on the clock to seal the victory.

Aboona and Bryce Hensley each made 3 from behind the arc and led St. Viator with 11 points apiece.

The fire alarm went off with 2:56 left in the game and the Lions in possession, leading 39-35. The game resumed after a 15-minute delay.