Boys basketball: Matz stuns St. Viator with buzzer-beating 3, leading Carmel to comeback win
Carmel’s Ethan Matz put St. Viator down on the mat Friday in Arlington Heights.
Matz, a 6-foot-3 guard, canned a pair of 3-pointers in just 12 seconds to put the Corsairs up for good. The senior finished with 19 points as Carmel knocked off the Lions 47-38.
With his team trailing 27-26, Matz hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the third quarter. After Viator missed a last-second shot, Matz got a quick outlet pass and then drilled a three-quarter-court shot at the buzzer to give the Corsairs a 30-26 lead.
“We were just taking what they were giving us,” said Matz, who is a three-year starter. “It was the end of the quarter and I was feeling myself after that first one. It went right out the hands and I knew it was going in. I was already running back to the bench.”
That helped Carmel scored the next seven points as the Corsairs were on their way to a 14-3 run to lead 40-30 with 4:18 to play.
Jacob Only tried to spark a comeback for Viator (2-2, 0-1). He hit a 3-pointer and then a free throw as the Lions closed to 40-34 with 2:33 to play.
But a basket by Preston Dahl and a free throws from Matz and JJ Doylealong with three free throws from Jackson Stavros encompassed another 7-0 run. That put the game away for Carmel with a 47-34 lead.
Matz scored 7 of his team’s final 15 points in the fourth quarter to give the Corsairs (3-2, 1-0) the victory.
“They brought a lot of pressure and they are a great pressure team,” Carmel coach Mike Wasielewski said. “We just had to talk about it and make some adjustments. What a difference a year makes. A year ago, we were down 20 at halftime. Our guys trained for a year and here we are.”
Carmel and Viator, who were two of the original members of the East Suburban Catholic League, were opening league play in the conference’s final season. They, along with the rest of the ESCC, will merge with the Chicago Catholic League next season.
Wasielewski said it was good to get a win in his team’s conference opener.
“We are happy to get the win,” Wasielewski said. “We plan to be competitive. We just got to keep getting better. This is such a coachable group.”
It was also a big night for Drew Bance.
The senior was promised a steak dinner from assistant coach Joe Harmsen if Bance could come up with a double-double performance. After Bance scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds, he knows what restaurant he wants Harmsen to take him to.
“Coach H (Harmsen) has us do a bunch of rebound drills in practice,” said Bance, who is a 6-2 senior. “I think that really helped me a lot. He promised me a steak dinner if I got a double-double and I got it. I’m thinking Ruth’s Chris for dinner.”
Bance wasn’t able to get most of rebounds by blocking out Viator after the Lions suffered a poor shooting night.
Viator shot 29% (11-of-29) from the field. They were also 23% (6-of-26) from outside the arc and that was helped by converting 3-of-5 shots in the final quarter.
“It has been a struggle making shots the first couple weeks of the season,” St. Viator coach Michael O’Keeffe said. “We definitely have guys capable of making open shots. We got a lot of good looks. We are going to continue to pump confidence in our guys.”
Only led the Lions with 11 points, while Dawson Charles had 9 points and Sean Halpin 8 points.