St. Viator’s inside work stops Wheeling
St. Viator has relied on the 3-pointer but was not going to let its season die because of it Monday night.
Not with host Wheeling focused defensively on keeping D.J. Morris and Kevin Walsh from piling on to their combined total of 90 3s in their Class 4A boys basketball regional quarterfinal.
Ninth-seed Viator (14-12) connected only once outside the arc but shot 61 percent inside as it held off a series of challenges for a 57-50 victory over No. 21 Wheeling (7-20).
“We knew they were going to face-guard D.J. and Walsh because they pretty much lit them up last time,” Viator junior Chris Myjak said of Morris hitting six 3s and the guard duo combining for 35 points in a 62-37 win Dec. 29.
So it was time for the 6-foot-5 Myjak to come through with a game-highs of 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and 10 rebounds. He scored 8 points in the first quarter as the Lions took a 17-5 lead and never trailed en route to a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday semifinal with cross-town rival and No. 8 Hersey (15-11).
“We’ve been saying for awhile that we needed some other guys to step up,” Viator coach Joe Majkowski said after his team shot 57 percent (20-for-35). “Chris did a great job tonight.”
He was hardly alone as Morris (8 points) and Walsh (11 points) each had 3 assists. Senior Quinn Murray had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and senior Dan Moynihan had 7 points.
And junior Danny Forde (7 points) held Wheeling long-range threat Ricky Schwind to his only 3 on a 28-footer to beat the halftime buzzer and cut the deficit to 23-19.
“I was very impressed with how their role players stepped up,” said first-year Wheeling coach John Clancy. “Forde and Murray really responded for them.”
Wheeling responded as well even though it missed 9 of its first 11 free throws to finish 12-for-25. Tyler Shapiro (11 points, 3 assists) found freshman Jeremy Stephani for a 3 to cut the deficit to 30-28 with 2:59 left in the third.
But nine seconds later, Viator’s only successful 3 led to an extra point as Walsh was fouled. That started a 10-3 burst to finish the quarter.
Wheeling, which also got 11 points from Riley Harvey, could never get closer than 5 points the rest of the way even though Viator made just 5-of-14 free throws in the last 1:40.
And Myjak would like to keep his senior teammates playing as long as possible as Viator will try to avenge an 81-62 December loss to Hersey.
“A lot of this is for them now,” Myjak said. “I think we came out with a little more heart during the playoffs because there’s more to play for now.”