St. Viator dumps Prospect

St. Viator senior guard Treyvon Calvin said it all came down to defense Wednesday night against Prospect.

It wasn't bad on the offensive end for Viator either at the Lions' Joe Majkowski boys basketball tourney.

"It was our defensive intensity," said Calvin, "We had to get stops and we got them."

Calvin scored 26 points, while teammate Jeremiah Hernandez added 23 points - including 19-of-23 from the free-throw line - as the Lions won 72-65.

"We brought the energy," added Lions senior Kevin Murphy. "Our first game (in the tournament) we didn't have it and tonight we brought it. We needed it because it was a huge game for us."

Jon Kreidler led a strong Prospect effort with 21 points.

"Our guys were ready to play tonight," said Knights coach John Camardella. "We were playing with lineups we rarely practice with due to foul trouble."

In the first quarter, 6 points from Calvin and 5 by Hernandez boosted the Lions' cause.

And when Calvin came up with a block on one end and a layup on the other, Viator held a 15-8 lead.

Quarter two saw Kreidler score 9 points to bring the Knights within 2.

Then Viator went on a run as Hernandez scored 9 in the quarter as well; and when he stole the ball, was fouled on a layup attempt and knocked down 2 free throws, the Lions took a 38-28 advantage into the break.

"At halftime we talked about how giving up 28 points was too much," said Murphy. That was unacceptable for us. They did finish with 65, but I still thought we played a lot better in the second half than we did in the first half."

Two 3-pointers from Kreidler to start the third quarter cut the Knights' deficit, but Viator took back control on 7 points in the period from Calvin.

Prospect was able to close late in the fourth quarter to 65-60 when Michael Slupski hit 2 free throws with 2 minutes left.

But the Lions closed the game out at the free throw line, as Calvin sank 5 fourth-quarter quarter foul shots and Hernandez had 9.

"We had to attack the basket," said Hernandez. "Prospect played great man-to-man defense, but they put us on the line a lot.

"In a game like this neither team is ever going to quit. Prospect is a great team but we were able to pull it out at the end."

Sam Murray had 13 points for Prospect.

"It was a tough game," added Camardella. "Viator competed and we competed. These two teams know each other well.

"It was a high intensity rivalry game and we were at times a half step slow. Those reactions led to some reaches, but I'm extremely proud of our guys. They never quit.