Clark's career achievement helps St. Viator past Prospect

Midway through the third quarter, St. Viator leading scorer Myia Clark had 4 points.

Lions coach Jason Raymond pulled his 5-foot-9 senior guard over for a quick chat.

"I said to her, 'Look, you're not a 4-point per-half scorer - start getting aggressive,' " Raymond said. "She really turned it on and started playing well."

So well, that Clark finished with a game-high 17 points and became only the second player in program history to reach 1,500 points.

Clark's baseline drive for a layup with 1:44 left in the game gave Viator a 48-42 lead.

It also gave Clark 1,501 career points which the crowd learned 40 seconds later P.A. announcer Steve Hayes during a timeout.

A minute later, Clark's layup at the buzzer wrapped up a 52-44 victory over a stubborn Prospect team, which was led by Margherite Pettenuzzo's 16 points (four 3-pointers).

Lions senior guard Olivia Solimene also reached double figures, scoring 16 points (10 in the first half) with 2 steals.

Clark is now 2 points behind St. Viator all-time leading scorer Denise Walker, the Lions freshman girls basketball coach who finished her career in 1996 with 1,523 points.

"Before I came to St. Viator, I didn't even think about a 1,000 points and all that," said Clark (7 rebounds, 2 assists), a Saint Louis recruit who attended Eisenhower Junior High in Hoffman Estates. "I just try to be as aggressive as possible."

Clark said the Lions prepared to try and stop Prospect's Emily Frasco, who would have been the second D-I recruit on the floor. However, the Alabama-Birmingham bound senior was unable to play due to illness.

"The key was going to be to stop No. 3 (Frasco, who was recently all-tourney at Dundee-Crown)," Clark said. "We primarily wanted to focus on our defense and stay consistent. Most of the time we did a god job at that. Even with her (Frasco) out, we just tried to play our same game."

It was a game in which Viator (12-6) led most of the way, with Prospect (9-6) making serious runs.

The Knights trailed 18-7 after Viator junior Natalie Krause grabbed a rebound and put back the layup.

But Prospect got back to within 20-19 at half, closing with Pettenuzzo's third 3-pointer. The 5-6 senior guard followed with a nice fake shot and drive to the basket for a layup and final points of the first 16 minutes.

Pettenuzzo had also been ill and missed practice on Wednesday.

"She was our spark," said Prospect coach Gabrielle Lovin. "It was hard not having Emily. And Margherite was coming off the flu so she couldn't start after missing practice. She knocked down some awesome shots. She played great. I'm proud of how she came through."

The Lions came back from the 11-point second quarter deficit and took the lead at 24-22 when Jessica Kowalczyk (9 points) fired home a 3-pointer early in the third period.

Viator answered with a 6-0 run, getting back-to-back baskets from Bridget DeZellar (6 points, 8 rebounds) and a 10-footer in the lane by Solimene.

Two free throws by Clark put the Lions in front 36-31 after three quarters.

Senior guard Michaela Mueller started the fourth quarter with a steal and then hit 2 free throws that made it 38-31.

The hosts took their biggest lead of the half at 40-31 when Clark drove for a layup.

The Knights responded again, pulling to within 40-37 on a nifty 12-foot turn-around jumper by Stephanie Kowalczyk (8 points) with 5:06 left.

Two free throws by Lions junior Samantha DeJulio made it 46-39 with 2:40 left and Prospect never got closer than 4 points.

"They didn't have Frasco and that changes them a little," said Raymond, whose team hit three 3-pointers, including one from Maddie Fitzpatrick (4 points). "We kind of had to change how we guarded them, not having that 3-point threat out there."

Pettenuzzo picked up the slack in the 3-point department.

"It seems like every year Pettenuzzo hits some big shots for them against us," Raymond added. "I'll be glad to see her graduate. She looks like a good kid and she plays hard. She came off the bench and knocked down some big 3s for them. She has a nice touch, for sure.

"Some times when you go into a game knowing the other team's big girl is out, you kind of have a letdown. But our intensity was, there from start to finish so I'm proud of our girls for that."

Ashley Adams and Abbey Danciu also provided points for Prospect.

"It's always an entertaining game with St. Viator," Lovin said. "It was probably the best we've played defensively all season. We were playing very good team defense, switching it up a lot and communicating well. Fatigue sets in at this time of season as you have kids getting their second wind heading into the second half of the season. But I'm really proud of how we did defensively.

"Emily will take small steps to get healthy and hopefully she'll be back and ready to go in our next game (Tuesday vs. Fremd). Myia Clark is a good player. She's got a good head on her. St. Viator did a good job."