St. Viator 46, Carmel 35

If someone would have told Carmel boys basketball coach Jon Baffico that visiting St. Viator would score 46 points Friday, he would have expected the Corsairs to win.

But an ice-cold start doomed Carmel to a 46-35 loss in an East Suburban Catholic Conference game.

Carmel missed its first 7 shots and fell behind 12-0. The Corsairs finished the quarter with 5 points and only added 14 total points combined in the second and third quarters. Carmel played its best basketball down the stretch, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter and putting a brief scare into St. Viator.

Neither team had school during the day because of the weather.

"We came out like it was a snow day and that was disappointing," Baffico said. "St. Viator did a great job of taking it to us. We responded, but it was too little too late."

Camel (4-20, 1-9) rushed its shots for much of the game, thanks in part to intense defense by the Lions (9-11, 3-6). In particular, sophomore guard Alan Aboona made sure nothing came easily for Carmel.

"He can dog the ball when he wants to," St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski said. "He makes it tough for the opposing team to get into their offense."

On offense, Aboona knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and also made two tough shots in the lane. He finished with 12 points.

"He gets better every week," Majkowski said. "He does so many good things."

Senior Jim Platania also hit two 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 15 points.

St. Viator was 9 of 11 from the line.

"We were a little sloppy at the end, but we hung tough and made our free throws," Majkowski said.