Energetic St. Viator puts the clamps on Carmel

St. Viator girls basketball coach Paul Missavage was all smiles after his Lions defeated host Carmel Catholic 39-26 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference opener Saturday.

St. Viator's man-to-man defense held the Corsairs to only 5 points in the first quarter and 4 in the second.

"The girls came in with an extreme, intense amount of energy," said Missavage, whose Lions improved to 3-4 overall. "We played with pride, and I think defensively we played well as a team."

"We were just really fired up because it was our first conference game," Lions point guard Kayne Stanley said. "We played our hardest out there."

Madison McAteer led the Lions with 11 points. Myra Clark scored 8 points, Stanley added 7 and Jessica Hohlweg contributed 6 points.

"We have three seniors lead us," Missavage said. "Stanley handled the ball in the second half without any turnovers, Hohlweg has played great defense in the post, and McAteer had a great game for us defensively."

Emma Rappe scored 11 points for Carmel (1-6).

After St. Viator sped to a 18-9 halftime lead, Carmel outscored the Lions 12-11 in the third quarter but still trailed 29-21.

"The second half is usually our strongest," Rappe said. "We just couldn't pull it out today."

"We're a young team figuring out that on the varsity we need to take care of the basketball," Corsairs coach Kelly Perz said."We had too many mental errors on the defensive end."