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Perfect tourney finish for St. Viator

For St. Viator's Jeremiah Hernandez and his boys basketball teammates, this week's season-opening Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving Tournament was more than just an opportunity to get the season off to a good start.

It was a chance to remind folks about just how successful the program has become lately, with a trip to the Class 3A supersectional last season as fresh evidence.

"We're aware of the lack of respect that we've been shown since our run last year," Hernandez said. "But coach (Quin) Hayes has been stressing to us the importance of doing our work, especially in practice, which will make us a better team."

A bit more respect may be forthcoming after St. Viator picked up its fourth victory in as many tries by holding off a late Conant charge. The Lions won 58-52 at Cahill Gym on Saturday afternoon to wrap up a perfect holiday debut.

"We beat four very good teams," Hayes said in reference to Lions wins over Libertyville (Monday), Prospect (Wednesday) and Highland Park (Friday) in addition to Saturday's result. "I can't stress enough the level of unselfishness that I've seen from our kids from Jeremiah, Peter (Lambesis), and Treyvon (Calvin), on down to the rest of our team. The thing that I really like is that they don't care who scores and how much, they care about getting wins and that is truly a special thing."

That unselfishness came into play during a 17-0 tear that began with back-to-back buckets by Calvin (team-high 20 points) with 2:34 to play in the opening quarter and ended with a 3 by the 6-1 junior and gave St. Viator a 20-10 lead.

Cougars standout senior big man Ryan Davis was forced to the bench with his second foul with 1:56 remaining in the first quarter. During his absence, Conant mustered just 5 points in the remaining 11 minutes of the half, and St. Viator led 29-15 at the break.

St. Viator's lead reach its peak less than two minutes into the second half at 37-17 before Conant (2-2) produced a late charge.

Davis sparked it, scoring 13 of his game-high 31 in the final eight minutes to bring Conant within 6 (at 56-50) when he connected on his second 3 with 14 seconds left.

But the home team kept the Cougars at bay by going 7 of 8 at the foul line over the last minute-plus, including a perfect 4 for 4 by Calvin - an accomplishment made even more impressive by extenuating circumstances: the junior guard had been battling the flu the last couple of days.

"He was over at my house throwing up yesterday," Hernandez said with a laugh. "But when he got going, he was unstoppable. By doing what he did, he got us going as well."

"He galvanized our entire effort," Hayes said. "He became a force out there, even after he would get winded in helping to get others involved on both sides of the ball."

Next up for the Lions is a nonconference tilt at Lake Forest on Thursday. Conant opens up Mid-Suburban West play at Palatine on Friday.

First-year Conant coach Jim Maley feels a 2-2 effort at St. Viator gave his team some important feedback.

"This game showed me how much heart we have as a team," Maley said. "Being down 20, we could've packed it in and gotten blown out by 40. But we got a second wind in the second half, and when you have leadership like Ryan and Ben Schols that are so coachable, it works its way down to the last guy on the bench."

Maley also appreciates the value of the Majkowski Classic.

"What I really like is the fact that you're getting 4 good quality games against a different array of good competition which can tell you a lot about your team in a positive way - and which will help us down the road," Maley said.

  St. Viator's Jeremiah Hernandez drives to the basket despite multiple Conant defenders in the first quarter of the Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving tournament at St. Viator on Saturday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  St. Viator's Treyvon Calvin glides down the lane against Conant in the Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving tournament at St. Viator on Saturday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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