Clark's 19 points lead Viator past Wheeling

Prior to St. Viator's 45-36 triumph over visiting Wheeling on Thursday night, Lions junior guard Myia Clark was presented a plaque signifying the 1,000 points she has scored in her three-year varsity career.

"I had no idea,' Clark said about reaching the milestone on Jan. 21 in a win at Resurrection High School in Chicago. "It feels amazing and I was so surprised. I almost started crying tears of joy but I knew I couldn't because I had to be ready for the game."

And was she ever.

Clark came out and connected for the game's first 6 points - a 3-pointer from the right side and then a 3-pointer from the left.

When she made 2 free throws for the game's final points with 11.6 seconds left, Clark had a game-high 19 points and the Lions (14-13) had a guaranteed record of at least .500 for this season.

"It was awesome," said Lions coach Jason Raymond about Clark receiving her recognition with parents Marc and Lasharndra (who played basketball at Westinghouse and Northeastern) before the game and then scoring 19 points.

"And we needed everyone of her points. Every one was precious."

Clark joined an elite group of four other Lions who have scored 1,000 points, including all-time leader Denise Walker (1,552), who is the Lions' freshman 'B' coach.

Second on the list is Lauren Weber, whose coach at Viator (Bill Murmann) happened to be on the Wheeling bench, serving as Wildcats head coach Matt Weber's assistant.

Susan Hohenadel and Erin Fabbri also reached the 1,000 plateau at Viator.

Coincidentally, Clark was defending a 1,000-point scorer for Wheeling, senior Melissa Claver, who had 12 points.

After Clark's back-to-back 3s, her backcourt partner and classmate Olivia Solimene (7 points) tossed in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 9-0.

The Lions did not allow a field goal in the first quarter and led 11-3 before Wheeling rallied.

The Wildcats (12-16) gained their first lead at 13-12 on a 3-pointer from freshman Chloe Drozdz (6 points) with 4:24 left in the first half.

Thanks to a nice move to the basket by Maddie Fitzpatrick for a layup with 30 seconds, the Lions led 16-14 at intermission.

Neither team led by more than 4 points in the second half until the final minute.

Senior Jenna Breslin's (8 points) third basket of the fourth quarter, a rebound bank shot, gave Viator a 38-36 lead with 2:13 left in the game.

Two free throws by Michaela Mueller made it 40-36 with 58 seconds left.

The Lions completed their game-ending 9-0 run with 4 free throws from Clark and one from Solimene in the final 53 seconds.

"We just had to contain and play defense at the end," Clark said. "And no fouling, That was especially important and we did a good job of that."

Wheeling got all 7 of Nansy Velev's points in the second. half. Nosa Igiehon added 8 points for the Wildcats.

Claver's spin move for a bank shot and a 3-pointer from Kourtney Schuetz gave the visitors a 23-21 lead after Carrie Leazer's layup had put the Lions ahead 21-18 .

"We had a very slow start," Weber said. "We came out with a lack of energy and that's on me. We have to play better if we want to accomplish our goals in the regional.

"Credit St. Viator for controlling the boards. They did a great job rebounding we didn't box out. We have to get better at finishing shots and rebounding. I wish St. Viator the best of luck in their regional next week."

Raymond would love to see his team play all 32 minutes like it did in Thursday's first quarter.

"We started the game tremendously," he said. "We were able to knock down shots against their zone and we held them to 3 points.

"But then we kind of fell asleep. The rims got tight on us for the majority of the game. But it was nice to see us keep our composure when we got down in the second half. And it was nice to see us get stops and make our free throws (7-of-8 in the last 58 seconds) at the end."