St. Viator just falls short to Deerfield

St. Viator ran out of last-second magic in its semifinal game against Deerfield in the 32nd Annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic.

Less than 24 hours after pulling out a 2-point overtime win against Stevenson, the Lions had a chance to send Wednesday's game into overtime. Jack Etchingham's drive to the basket resulted in a held ball with the possession arrow in favor of the Warriors, who were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock for a 51-49 victory.

St. Viator will face Libertyville in Saturday's third-place game at 7:15 p.m., and Deerfield (10-1) advances to the championship game at 8:45 against Prospect.

The Lions (11-3) nearly wiped out a 44-35 deficit in the fourth quarter. A 7-0 run cut the margin to 44-42. Alan Aboona (game-high 22 points) made a basket and a pair of free throws in that span.

Etchingham's 3-pointer with 14.8 seconds left cut the margin to 50-49, and Deerfield's 6-8 senior Duje Dukan (22 points) made the first of 2 from the line. Brendan King rebounded the miss and found Etchingham, whose drive was thwarted by Deerfield's collapsing defense.

Dukan received special attention from St. Viator's defense all night and was 6-of-14 from the field, including 1-of-6 from behind the arc. He was 9-of-16 from the foul line.

"He's going to get his points," Viator coach Joe Majkowski said. "Etchingham did a nice job on him. We wanted to make him earn everything."

"Duje is a marked man," said Deerfield coach Bret Just. "Every game, the other team is gunning for him."

"They were more physical with me," Dukan said.

Aboona's return to the lineup after breaking his nose early in Tuesday's win against Stevenson came after receiving clearance from his doctor Wednesday. He scored 11 first-half points and hit his first 2 shots from 3-point range.

"In warm-ups, the shot wasn't there," Aboona said. "I missed the shootaround this morning because I was at the doctor."

"He's a tough kid," Majkowski said. "He gave a really good effort under tough circumstances."

Deerfield led 18-15 after on quarter, 30-26 at halftime and 40-35 after three.

Richard McLoughlin backed up Aboona with 9 points, and King added 6. Adam Rhum and Ryan Davis scored 9 each for the Warriors.