Carmel holds off St. Viator
Having already dropped decisions to the top two teams in the East Suburban Catholic Conference - state powers Fenwick and Marian Catholic - the Carmel girls basketball team is hoping for a strong finish in the league.
The Corsairs sure looked strong at the Cahill Gymnasium on Wednesday, handing St. Viator a 58-48 loss in Arlington Heights.
It was only the second loss for St. Viator (15-7) in eight conference games.
The Corsairs (12-7, 2-3) led nearly all the way and built their biggest lead at 45-33 with 6:38 left in the game.
But the Lions wouldn't fold easily and drew to within 45-41 when junior Mary Calov drilled a 3-pointer with 4:10 left.
Lauren Lehocky answered with a driving layup and a 16-footer to extend the Corsairs' advantage to 49-42.
Viator got to within 51-47 on a nice baseline move and 3-point play by junior Meghan McGrath with 2:44 left.
But that's as close as the hosts would get as Tiffany Hendrickson converted 5 of 7 free throws in the final 1:14 to help seal the verdict.
Hendrickson finished with a season-high 25 points, followed by Lehocky's 12 and 8 by Jenna Korte.
"I thought our girls kept their poise in the fourth quarter when St. Viator made those runs," said Carmel coach Ben Berg. "I'm really proud of our four seniors (Hendrickson, Korte, Lehocky and Morgan Boban). They really played well this game."
The closest St. Viator got in the second half was 33-31 thanks to back-to-back steals by one of the area's top pickpockets, Kelly Hendricks.
The senior guard (10 points) converted the first into a layup and the second into a free throw with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
"She's a tough defender," Berg said. "She made some nice steals. But for the most part, I was happy with how we handled their pressure."
Hendrickson's layup and 14-foot pullup jumper in the final 33 seconds of the third period gave the visitors a 43-33 cushion.
"We focused all this week on setting screens and I thought we did a nice job with that," Hendrickson said. "My teammates helped me score with a lot of good screens. And it all comes from our defense. We were getting steals and finishing our shots."
Sophomore Beth Scudder added 5 points for the Corsairs.
Junior Susan Hohenadel led Viator with 15 points, while Calov and Colleen Nolan each had 7 and Jamie Blenner added 6.
"Carmel played a very good game," said Lions coach Paul Bjerkness. "They rebounded well and beat us on the glass. We struggled some on the boards. Carmel stayed true to its game.
"We've been through this before and we'll bounce back. We have some things to work on and we'll go back to work on them (today)."