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St. Viator regroups, takes down Wheeling

St. Viator's boys basketball team uses defense to create offense.

In the first quarter Friday at Wheeling in a consolation semifinal against the host Wildcats, the Lions were coming up short in both areas.

The rest of the game was a different story. The Lions regrouped and went on the beat Wheeling 69-55.

St. Viator (10-2) will take on a feisty group of Warriors from Maine West (6-5) for the consolation championship at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

"I knew I had to lead by example to bring the defensive intensity," said St. Viator's Peter Lambesis. "We were lacking intensity to start the game."

Wheeling played well to start the game and led 18-13 as the first quarter ended.

"We did everything well," said Wheeling coach Michael O'Keeffe. "We moved the ball well, found our shooters and played good defense. When the second quarter started St. Viator's defense turned up the pressure and took us out of our offense."

Lambesis started the 10-0 run to start the quarter with a basket from an offensive rebound. And he finished the run with a basket from his own steal for a 23-18 lead.

Wheeling received consecutive 3-pointers from from Phil Bucko (13 points) and Jeremy Kim (11 points, 3 assists) to take the lead back at 24-23 with 1:04 left in the first half.

The Lions finished the quarter on a 6-0 run with Matt Doersching's offensive basket, which gave St. Viator the lead at 25-24 with :48 left.

St. Viator picked up where it left off by getting a 13-0 run to start the third quarter. Jeremiah Hernandez scored one basket but dished out 2 of his 7 assists during the spurt, which gave the Lions a 42-24 lead with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

"What I liked about the third quarter," said St. Viator coach Quin Hayes, "was that we kept up our intensity and pressure. Defense is the key for us. When we buy into our defense the sky's the limit."

Trey Calvin scored 16 of his 20 points to go with 6 rebounds in the second half for the Lions.

"I was able to get open and my teammates were able to find me in the right position to score," said Calvin. " After the first quarter coach got on us because we weren't moving the ball. I rely on my teammates to score which then makes it easier for me to score."

"We need to get the ball inside more for our offense to be effective," said O'Keeffe. "If we can drive and get some inside baskets, then we can kick it out to our good shooters."

Wheeling has a chance to go 2-2 in the tournament when it faces Vernon Hills, which fell to Maine West 85-54, in a 2 p.m. tip-off Saturday.

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