Aboona, McLoughlin lift St. Viator over Libertyville in nail-biter
St. Viator rode the hot shooting of Alan Aboona and the inside game of Richard McLoughlin all the way to a 79-71 win over Libertyville and a third-place finish in the 32nd annual Wheeling Wildcat Harwood Classic on Saturday.
Aboona topped his 22-point semifinal performance with a 33-point outburst, 21 of which came in the first half. McLoughlin had his best offensive game of the tournament with 20 points and 9 rebounds.
"It was a nail-biter," St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski said. "It wasn't a 2-point game (like the Lions' two previous games), but I never felt comfortable."
Perhaps that was due to the pressure and persistence of the Wildcats (7-5), who forced 20 turnovers and kept the game well within a reach until midway through the fourth quarter.
"It was too much Aboona tonight," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. "He really made us pay. He scored in so many different ways.
"They got to every loose ball and got second and third opportunities"
Aboona was 11 of 19 from the field, including 4 of 8 from behind the 3-point line. McLoughlin was 7 of 13 and made all 6 of his free throws, including 4 in the final minute when the Wildcats were putting the Lions' free-throw skills to the test. They finished 23 of 34 from the line.
"Once in a while, a team will focus on him and make it difficult," Majkowski said. "He just got going tonight. He got in his rhythm early."
"In the first half, I really had it going," Aboona said. "We're playing a lot better now. We made it a point to pick each other up."
McLoughlin, who averaged nearly 15 points per game in the tournament, was glad to finish his three varsity years in this tournament with a third-place finish.
"It's a good way to finish here," McLoughlin said. "Tonight, I wasn't taking as many outside shots. I had the stroke inside."
Libertyville's 1-2 punch of Billy Meyer and Ryan Barth was unable to match their output. Saddled with foul trouble, Meyer finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds, while Barth led the Wildcats with 22 points and 4 assists.
"We were hanging around, buying some time for him," Bogumil said of the team's attempt to get the most out of Meyer's limited minutes.
St. Viator led 20-17 after one quarter, 37-32 at halftime and 58-49 after three. But the Wildcats weren't finished. They cut the margin to 7 points, the last coming on Meyer's basket with 2:23 left with St. Viator (12-3) leading 64-57.
From that point, the only points St. Viator scored from the field were a spinning drive by Aboona and a putback by McLoughlin. The remaining 11 points came at the line.
"I felt if we played well, we thought we could have been in the championship game," Majkowski said. "Going 3-1 against quality competition is good. I'm happy with where we're at, but we've got to get better."
They'll have nearly two weeks to improve before returning to conference play January 8 at Notre Dame.
Libertyville has Mundelein and high-scoring Ben Brust next.
"He's fun to watch unless we're playing him," Bogumil said. "We're young, but we can't use inexperience as a crutch halfway through the season."