Notre Dame 71, St. Viator 45

St. Viator seems to bring out the best in Notre Dame.

That led to the Lions worst loss of the boys basketball season and second by more than 20 points to the Dons.

Notre Dame rolled 71-45 in Monday's East Suburban Catholic Conference makeup game at a spirited Cahill Gym in Arlington Heights.

"It's our rival," said Notre Dame senior Zach Abraham, who went to grade school in Mount Prospect with Viator's Matt O'Malley and Eric Huber. "There's a lot of energy."

Which the Dons (13-11, 7-5) weren't lacking coming off a big 60-59 upset of ESCC co-leader St. Patrick on Friday.

Mike DiGregorio had a game-high 16 points and Abraham had 13 points and three 3-pointers. Jimmy Martin, Shawn Wallace and Doug Wollney added 10 points each as the Dons shot 56 percent (23-for-41) form the field and were 20-for-26 on free throws.

"After our game Friday I was a little worried about a letdown," said ND coach Tom Les. "Our student section really helped us.

"I thought we guarded well and that was the difference."

Which kept the Lions (9-15, 3-9), coming off two tough losses to Prospect and St. Joseph, from getting any offensive rhythm.

They shot just 35.6 percent (16-for-45) and were hampered by early foul trouble to Jim Platania (13 points), Mike Landuyt and O'Malley.

"They're a good defensive team," said Viator coach Joe Majkowski, whose team lost the first meeting 64-41 on Jan. 4. "They're able to contain us 1-on-1, which is the way we're running our offense right now.

"If we can't penetrate past people it makes it tough."

Richard McLoughlin added 10 points for the Lions, who finish ESCC play Thursday at Joliet Catholic.