Reserves give St. Viator a boost
St.Viator's boys basketball winning streak reached seven games with its 56-40 win over visiting Palatine in a non-conference game Tuesday at Cahill Gym in Arlington Heights.
The Lions (7-0) received 22 bench points in their win over the 4-5 Pirates.
"Our bench players are coming through for us," said Lions coach Joe Majkowski. "We thought we had good depth when the season started and it shows. Our second group gets out there and does the right things for us."
Leading 18-14 with 5:03 left in the second quarter, St. Viator reserve guard Quinn Murray (7 points) helped get things started with a 3-pointer. The basket ignited a Lions' 14-2 run to finish the half and increased the lead to 32-16.
Brian Wilhite (9 points) came off the bench to toss in a 3-pointer and a basket during the streak. St. Viator also hit all 6 of its free throws to finish the quarter.
"On any given night anyone of us (reserves) can have a big night," said Murray. "My role is to be a hustle guy and make things happen. I want to fit into my role.
"If my shot comes and I'm in position I take it. As a junior last year we learned a lot from the seniors. We want to pass that on to the juniors."
The Pirates played more inspired in the second half with Peter Bony collecting 14 of his 18 points to go along with 6 rebounds. John Millin followed up Bony with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
"Against good teams like St. Viator, you have to be prepared to play all 32 minutes," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone. "They did a good job spreading out our defense. We gave them some good looks but they earned a lot of them too. They had us back on our heels to start the game."
St. Viator started out with a hot hand with an 8-0 run to open the game. Palatine closed the gap to 12-8 to finish the quarter. The Pirates stayed close until Murray started the run for the Lions.
D.J. Morris and Kevin Walsh each scored 13 points for St. Viator.
"This was probably the best fundamental game we had running our offense," said Majkowski. "Our success has been because all the players play together. The players want to play well and the wins are a byproduct of that determination."