St. Viator 55, Leyden 35

St. Viator sophomore point guard Alan Aboona may have the most wisdom on his team, despite the fact that he is merely in his second year of high school.

When asked whether he was nervous going into his team's Class 4A Glenbrook North regional quarterfinal against Leyden on Monday evening, Aboona responded with wit, knowledge, and a little humor.

"Hey, it's just basketball," said a smiling Aboona.

However, it's easy to be so laid back, when you have skills like Aboona.

With a team-high 11 points, on three 3-pointers and a lay-up, Aboona lifted the 13th-seeded Lions to a 55-35 victory over No. 20 Leyden.

Viator (10-16) will meet No. 4 Glenbrook North (19-5) in today's 7:30 p.m. regional semifinal in Northbrook.

"We're ecstatic with (Aboona)'s play," said Viator coach Joe Majkowski. "He's extremely confident with what he can do on the basketball court right now. (His play) is amazing to see out of a sophomore."

Viator, despite playing tough in its last few contests, had dropped five straight games and was unsure of its playoff future.

Yet, at the start of Monday's game, the Lions appeared anything but hesitant, as they jumped out to a 17-7 first-quarter lead.

The Eagles (4-22) would rally late in the second quarter, cutting Viator's lead to four at 22-18, however a third-quarter shooting display, that saw Viator knock down 6 of its season-high 11 3-point baskets, would put the game out contention.

Aboona, along with junior Bryce Hensley (9 points, 3 rebounds) and senior Jim Platania (11 points, 3 rebounds) all were lights out from behind the arc.

"I think the seniors took a lot of pride and really stepped up tonight," said Hensley. "They really allowed us to get the ball and hit the open shots."

Joe Natale had a team-high 17 points as Leyden lost its last 10 games and junior scoring leader Deron Guyton didn't play the final four games for disciplinary reasons.

"We try to make teams take outside shots, and (Viator) knocked them down," said first-year Leyden coach Bill Heisler. "You have to take your hats off to them."

Glenbrook S. 64, Elk Grove 56: Elk Grove didn't play like a team with only 4 wins.

The Grenadiers took Glenbrook South to the brink with a fourth-quarter rally but came up short as the Titans scored a 64-56 victory in the Class 4A Glenbrook North regional quarterfinal.

After falling behind by double digits only minutes into the game, Elk Grove came back to trail by only a point late, but 3 key steals, including 2 by Titans junior Trent Monckton, hurt the Grens.

Six-foot-9 Glenbrook South junior center Jack Cooley scored 6 of his team-high 18 points as the No. 12 Titans took a quick 13-2 lead.

"We were a little nervous at the start -- a little timid," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "We have some slow spurts. That's indicative of our season, and tonight one came right away."

The Grens still trailed by 8 entering the fourth quarter but senior Billy Hubly (game-high 19 points) led a charge. When Tim Furlong sank 2 free throws Elk Grove was down only 48-47.

Then free throws from Cooley and guard Anthony Brown extended the lead and No. 21 Elk Grove (4-24) couldn't catch up.

Ryan Hopkins scored 13 points for Glenbrook South while Kevin McDonald added 11 points for the Grens.

"In the second half," said Furman, "it was ball pressure that got us going. We had them on their heels."