St. Viator hangs on against Highland Park
Even an experienced, postseason-tested boys basketball squad like St. Viator's understands that you can never count an opponent out, under any circumstances.
They got a good reminder in the nightcap of Tuesday's opening round of the 39th annual Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving Tournament at Cahill Gym in Arlington Heights.
The host Lions managed to hold off visiting Highland Park 38-35 after weathering a late Giants rally. Highland Park nearly erased an 8-point lead in the final 1:58. St. Viator denied a trio of chances that could have tied the game in the final half-minute.
"It was a battle out there tonight." St. Viator coach Quin Hayes said after the final buzzer had sounded. "Paul (Harris, Highland Park's coach) always does a great job of getting his team ready to play, and you know coming in that you're going to get a game from his team."
A tightly contested game for the first three quarters saw the visitors close to within 27-26 when 6-foot senior forward Zach Fleisher scored on a driving layup just 15 ticks into the fourth. Viator then got some breathing room with a 9-2 run to establish a seemingly commanding 36-28 advantage when Danny Walsh (10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) fed Kevin Murphy inside at the 1:58 mark.
It was then that 6-foot sophomore reserve guard Ziv Tal brought the Giants within 36-35 on the strength of 7 of his game-high 15 points, capped by a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left.
Highland Park then got three chances at tying the game, after 2 Andrew Soukup made fouls shots with 35 seconds to play.
On the first chance, Lions 6-5 senior forward Matt Trimberger intercepted a bounce pass underneath the basket.
After Soukup missed the front end of a one-and-one, Highland Park tossed a pass out of bounds.
Finally, a 3-point try by Fleisher clanked off the backboard at the buzzer after Walsh had missed on a one-and-one at the other end.
Despite the frantic finish, the second-year Lions coach felt good about his team's opening victory.
"We were able to get the ball to bounce our way," Hayes said. "I felt like we did a good job defending while staying disciplined on the offensive end. Still, had a couple of bounces gone their way, they could have won. Nonetheless, it's always great to get that first game of the season in, and with a win."