Eicholz spurs Lake Park past St. Viator
Eric Eicholz scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday to lead Lake Park to a 62-59 win over St. Viator and a berth in tonight’s semifinals of the 33rd Annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic.
Lake Park will face Niles North, a 62-46 quarterfinal winner over Wheeling, at 8:45 p.m., and St. Viator will face the tourney host Wildcats at 5:30.
Eicholz made 3 baskets and all 8 of his free throws in the fourth quarter, and the Lancers needed practically every one of those points.
“Coach has been working with me on my free throws,” Eicholz said. “Once I hit the first one, I’m confident I can hit the next.”
“He plays loose and relaxes at the end,” said Lake Park coach Josh Virostko. “At the end of the game, he doesn’t get rattled. He’s a 90 percent foul shooter.”
St. Viator trailed by 10 early in the fourth quarter after Carlos Cortez’ 2 free throws made it 47-37, but the Lions put together a rally that cut the deficit to a single point, 55-54, on Chris Myjak’s free throw.
Eicholz made a pair of free throws with 44.6 seconds and and another pair with 21.3 seconds remaining to make it 59-54.
Myjak scored 15 of his team-best 17 in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 17.6 seconds left and a 3 pointer with 4.0 seconds left, which cut the margin to 61-59.
“We started looking for him,” St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski said. “That’s what we need from him.”
Dominique Spencer (16 points and 12 rebounds) made the first of 2 free throws, and a desperation shot from beyond half court missed the mark at the horn.
“When things go against us, we didn’t give up,” Majkowski said. “I’m glad to see our kids battle.”
The Lancers (9-3) rebounded from an 18-6 deficit late in the first quarter by outscoring St. Viator (8-2) 26-6 over the last 10:01 of the first half, and led 32-24 at halftime. Spencer scored 8 points in that run.
“In the first quarter, we were on our heels defensively, and they went at us,” Virostko said. “We settled down, and our defense let us back into the game. That was the difference.”
St. Viator clawed its way back into the game and trailed 41-37 after three quarters.
“We seemed a little winded in the third quarter,” Virostko said. “Our energy dropped in the third quarter.”
D.J. Morris scored 14 points for St. Viator and added 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.