St. Viator adjusts, handles Hersey
St. Viator is showing why it’s one of the top teams in the area when it comes to boys basketball.
Case in point: Visiting Hersey came out with a lot of energy at Cahill Gymnasium on Saturday night when they visited the Lions in a nonconference game. The Huskies played a strong first quarter and led 20-17.
The Lions made the requisite adjustments, then received timely scoring from Ore Arogundade, Kevin Walsh and reserve Patrick Martin in avenging two losses to the Huskies last year by winning 73-57.
“They beat us badly at Hersey last season and then knocked us out of the playoffs,” said St. Viator coach Mike Howland, whose team is 9-0 for the best start since the 2000-01 regoinal champion won its first 12 games. “It wasn’t hard to get up for this one.”
Hersey started strong, hitting 8 of 10 shots in the first quarter and leading 20-14 with :36 left.
Martin then started a streak of 10 straight points that gave the Lions a 24-20 lead with 6:34 left in the first half. St. Viator never trailed again.
“I was just finding ways to score and just was hitting them,” said Martin. “Teamwork and defense leads to offense, and that’s how it’s working.”
Hersey (3-6) pulled to within 28-26 after a basket by Stefan Vucicevic (14 points, 5 rebounds) with 4:10 left.
Walsh (18 points, 4 3s) hit from long range and Arogundade scored on a layup from a pass by D.J. Morris before also hitting a 3 for a 36-26 lead. The Lions held a 39-29 advantage at the break.
Hersey was still hanging around at 45-37 before Arogundade (23 points, 8 rebounds) went on a tear.
The sophomore swingman scored all 11 points in an 11-4 Lions spurt to help St. Viator build a 56-41 lead with 1:52 left in the quarter.
“We started the game off well and then in the third quarter we played well for the first few minutes and then things happened,” said Hersey coach Steve Messer. “We were driving on them but then we stopped being agressive, we made some turnovers and they broke us down. At times we did show a glimmer of how good this team can be.”
Sean Reszotko scored 14 points and Kevin Kozil had 12 for Hersey. The Huskies are now off until the Pekin Tournament.
“That run helped break the game open,” said Arogundade. “We didn’t come out ready to play and we were a little sloppy. But we made adjustments and turned up the intensity.”
“Our bench had another good night with 16 points,” said Howland. “When we were behind, we were searching for someone to give us a left, and Martin did that.”