advertisement

Ferrante, Monson help St. Viator handle Hersey

With St. Viator's Mark Falotico still out nursing a recurring foot injury, and now center Sal Cannella missing with a sore back, who was going to step up for the Lions on Tuesday night at Hersey in the neighborhood nonconference boys basketball game?

It was Nick Ferrante, a 6-foot-5 senior, and Kevin Monson coming to the rescue.

Ferrante scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in St. Viator's 50-29 win at Hersey's Ken Carter gymnasium.

"Coach told me in practice that I have to rebound better," said Ferrante. "He pushed me hard in practice and I think I responded pretty well. Our defense is our backbone. By holding them to zero points for awhile in the first quarter, we were able to get the offense going. It was important for us to get a nice win after the two losses over the weekend to good opponents."

"Ferrante knew he would get more minutes tonight," said St. Viator coach Quin Hayes. "He had a chance to step up in a starter's role, to show me what he could do. It was a great night for him."

While Monson didn't score, Hayes indicated that wasn't a priority.

"He's the floor leader," said Hayes. "If you don't have a good point guard you don't do well as a team. That's proven fact. Kevin played sparingly last year but then started our first six games. When Falotico came back, Kevin came off the bench. Now with Mark out again, Kevin has filled the need. His starting the first six games really has benefitted us. The same for Ferrante, coming off the bench as a sixth to eighth man."

"I like my role in helping set up the offense," said Monson. "I've been struggling with my shot the last few games but it's more important to me to get the others involved. This game had a lot of meaning for me. I was going to go to Hersey but then I changed my mine. I played with all of their players in grade school so it was kind of fun to play against them."

Ferrante snared 5 rebounds for the Lions in the first quarter, all on the defensive end. His board work helped the Lions open up a 16-0 lead with 2:09 left in the first quarter before Hersey's Mike Lelito hit a 3 to end the run.

St. Viator led 26-12 at the break and 37-23 after three quarters.

Payton Haas (11 points, 5 rebounds) scored on consecutive 3-points plays to finish an 8-0 run for the 11-7 Huskies after they trailed 37-15.

Patrick McNamara led the Lions, who broke a two game skid, with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Danny Walsh also broke into double figures with 10 points.

The Lions (12-6) shot 20-for-45 from the floor while the Huskies, who were 1-for-15 in the first quarter, finished 12-for-44.

"It wasn't our shooting that concerned me," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "It was our lack of defensive intensity. We didn't pick up a charge until there were 20 seconds left in the ballgame. I think we learned we have to play better defense."

Hersey, which saw its six-game winning streak broken, will try to regroup against visiting Buffalo Grove in an Mid-Suburban East matchup at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

St. Viator will also play Thursday night, when it hosts Marian Central Catholic from Woodstock in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.