St. Viator bounces back

After its third-place finish in the Snowflake Tournament, St. Viator senior Mallory Hess said her team had three strong practices.

“We were a little down after our tournament, so we reviewed a lot of things,” Hess said. “We worked on being more patient and running our offense.”

The Lions sure got off to a running start against Latin in the Season’s End Tournament at Hersey High School on Wednesday night.

Hess’ putback gave the Lions the first of 8 unanswered points to start the game, and they never looked back in a 48-27 win at the Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

Hess’ 8 points were part of a balanced offense which also received 9 points from Jennie Horstmann, followed by Erin Fabbri (8 points), Sammy Stanley (6) and Katie Gavin (5).

Latin’s offense was led by led by sophomore guards Bridget Cato (10 points) and Lizzie Marks (9), but the team was without standout Nikki Dizon due to a knee injury.

“We knew they were missing their best player so we thought we could pressure them,” Hess said. “We started pressuring them early and got some steals, which helped.”

Dizon, a senior guard, has scored 1,619 career points and is averaging 16.6 this season. She has missed the last four games and one game earlier this season due to a concussion.

“We are hoping to have her back Monday (when the Season’s End tourney resumes and Latin faces Riverside-Brookfield),” said Romans coach Max Rouse whose Class 2A squad is 11-5 and 10-1 in games that Dizon started.

“I thought our kids played hard,” the coach added. “We’re a young group and St. Viator is a tough program through and through. Paul (Bjerkness, Lions coach) does a nice job and they are definitely one of the toughest teams we’ll see.”

Mary Cleary (5 rebounds), Justice Johnson (4) and Mallory Hess (4) were tough on the boards for Viator, which also received 4 assists from Fabbri.

Fabbri’s steal led to a 12-foot swish by Horstmann giving Viator a 12-2 lead. Moments later, Gavin’s 3-point play made it 15-2.

The Lions (12-5) jumped ahead 23-11 in the second quarter on back-to-back baskets by the Hess twins. Mallory hit a 6-footer and then Morgan Hess made a steal and layup.

“I thought we played good defense and that set the tone in the first quarter,” Bjerkness said. “We have a lot of different kids who can score on a given night. That’s why we always talk about sharing the basketball.

“Latin is a good team. Max (Rouse) does a nice job. We were able to pressure them into turnovers early and that helped.”