St. Viator finishes Benet
Stellar defense down the stretch and timely shooting by senior forward Kevin Walsh lifted St. Viator to a thrilling 50-42 win over Benet on Thursday night at Cahill Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
The win kept St. Viator on top of the East Suburban Catholic Conference with a 5-0 mark and an 18-3 overall record.
Walsh's 3-pointer with 4:36 left gave the Lions their first lead, at 40-38, since they led 3-2.
"That basket got us over the hump," said Walsh, who led the Lions with 16 points. "We were down 3, 4, and 1 point most of the night. But D.J. (Morris) found me open on that pass and I had a good look.
"Luckily I knocked it down and it gave us the lead and the momenteum. They are really a good defensive team and they made it hard for us to get good looks."
Morris (10 points) hit for a basket with 4:12 left and a 42-38 Lions lead.
Two-time defending ESCC champion Benet (15-5, 2-2) tied the game when Joe Schuessler (7 points) hit 2 free throws and Bobby Wehrli scored off an offenseive rebound with 3:02 left.
The Redwings didn't score again as the Lions finished the game on an 8-0 run.
Walsh gave St. Viator the lead for good at 44-42 by sinking a left-side jumper with 2:15 left.
After that, St. Viator's Mayo Arogundade stole the ball but missed the layup. Chris Myjak (8 rebounds) grabbed the carom and found Mayo in the corner for a 3 and a 47-42 lead with 1:36 left. Walsh hit the final free throws in the game's last 38 seconds.
"Walsh was just super," said St. Viator coach Mike Howland, who starred on the program's only other conference champ in 1997. "D.J. played a great game as did Ore (Arogundade, 9 points) and Mayo.
"I can't say enough on how Myjak and (Hugh) Masterson battled (Benet sophomore center Sean) O'Mara. He's just a beast inside. In the second half we had to make their defense work harder and we did that because we ran better sets.
"And what a shot from Mayo in the corner. That was cold-blooded."
Things didn't look rosy for the Lions early.
O'Mara (13 points, 9 rebounds) and Pat McInerney were having their way in building a 13-5 Benet lead at the end of the first quarter despite shooting 5-for-16 in the period.
Schuessler's basket with 5:46 left in the first half gave Benet an 18-8 lead.
The Lions began to reel in the Redwings when Myjak and Morris hit back to back 3s to close the gap to 18-14.
"We needed a game like this," said Walsh. "We haven't been in that many close games, so this was good for us to battle all night. This is a tough conference and you have to be ready to battle every night. We are where we are at because of the hard work."
"The story of the game was the last 2½ minutes," said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. "It was an even game to that point. But it was our inability to score in the last two minutes. I give (St.Viator) a lot of credit. They played excellent defense and did a great job pressuring the ball and helping out."
Benet had 15 turnovers, with 5 coming in the last quarter. The Lions commited 8, but none in the final quarter. Benet outrebounded the Lions 29-21, but St. Viator shot 45 percent (17-for-37) while the Redwings hit on 16 of 43 (37 percent) from the floor.
"It was a great effort," said Howland. "We just kept, chip, chip chipping away at them."