Kochera's 36-point outburst leads St. Viator past Hinsdale Central
Connor Kochera had what might be considered, at least for him, a slow start Tuesday night against visiting Hinsdale Central in Arlington Heights.
The high-scoring St. Viator guard had only one bucket in the first quarter, a 3-pointer, to go along with a couple of free throws.
The Lions led just 7-6 after 8 minutes were in the books, but Kochera and his teammates picked it up with a vengeance in the final three quarters.
The 6-foot-5 senior finished with 36 points and classmate Jack Mahoney - in just his third game back for the Lions this year after suffering a leg injury during the football season - hit a clutch 3-pointer in the waning moments as Viator won the nonconference boys basketball matchup 55-51.
"I'm just a broken record as far as Connor is concerned," said Lions coach Quin Hayes. "He deserves everything he gets because of how hard he's worked for the last four years. That's why he's had so much success - because of the work he puts in."
The Red Devils trailed by double-digits in the second half but rallied to tie the game with a minute left before falling just short in the end.
"We got a few stops," said Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre, "and that was the key to our comeback. Kochera kept hitting shots but somehow we were able to get back into it."
Viator led by 10 late in the third quarter as Kochera scored 12 points in the period, but Hinsdale Central fought its way back into the game and when 6-7 senior forward Ryan Isaacson had a steal and dunk, then followed that up with 2 free throws moments later, the score was tied at 48-48 with a minute remaining in the contest.
Then Viator (16-7) patiently ran its offense until it found Mahoney open at the top of the key, and the senior swished through a 3 with 21 ticks left to give the Lions a 3-point lead.
"We had a couple of turnovers the two possessions before," said Mahoney, "so the main thing was that we had to get a good possession. The biggest thing about our offense is that we have five positionless guys on the floor at all times, guys that can do it all.
"Coach Hayes said we should look for a wide open three or a layup in our offense. We ran our offense pretty well, got a good ball screen, I was able to get a wide open three and knocked it down."
The Red Devils were able to get within 2 points again in the final seconds, but two late free throws from Viator guard Michael Campagna sealed the win.
Isaacson led Hinsdale Central (10-9) with 17 points, teammate Mac Quast, a senior, was tough on the boards with 8 rebounds to go along with 9 points, while Charlie Sessa scored 7 for the Red Devils.
Mahoney and Connor Benson each tallied 6 points for Viator.
"Hinsdale Central is a great program and Nick (Latorre) is a heck of a coach," said Hayes. "I knew it was going to be tough tonight. You hear it all the time that you play these games to get ready for March, and I felt like we did that tonight in some instances.
"In some other ways, we've got to get better. We made some mental mistakes late, but I was proud of the boys for sticking with it to the very end."