St. Viator's smothering team defense helped the Lions build a big first-half lead, which paved the way for a 47-28 victory over Highland Park in Wednesday's St. Viator Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament.

The Lions used hustle and great team communication to limit the Giants to 6 first-half points while scoring 25 of their own.

"It was people being in the right spots and people working hard," said St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski. "That's what playing defense is all about."

Often Highland Park was thwarted while trying to run set plays, and there were not many second chances for the Giants when the ball clanged off the rim.

Highland Park's star - Marin Kukoc (son of former Bull Toni Kukoc) - was held to 4 first-half points before heating up in the second half and finishing with a game-high 17.

"It was all effort," St. Viator's Alan Aboona said of the team's defense. "We all knew what we were going to do. We wanted to stop Marin. We really locked them down."

Giants coach Paul Harris said the Lions made things very uncomfortable for his team on the offensive end during the first half.

"I thought we did a better job (in the second half)," Harris said. "But still, they imposed their will on us and exposed some things that we need to do better."

The Lions also had the experience factor, with four senior starters compared to the Giants' two.

"It's early in the year," Harris said. "We've got to learn from it. We'll do that through the experience that we gained and watching film."

The Lions featured a balanced offense, led by sophomore center Chris Myjak's 14 points and Aboona's 11 points.

"We're very balanced," Aboona said. "We want to create gaps. If we can get to the basket and make our free throws, I think we can be very dangerous."