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Boys Basketball: Marist finds road to victory over Marian
Updated: February 10, 2012 11:50PM
Marist hadn’t walked out of Marian Catholic’s gym with a win since 2005.
Trailing by six and having gone more than five minutes without a point to start the third quarter, it appeared the RedHawks’ streak of misfortune in Chicago Heights was going to extend another season.
But Lexus Williams’ basket snapped a 5:35 scoreless streak and Tyler Oden followed with a three-pointer, igniting a 20-4 run and eventual 56-45 Marist victory in East Suburban Catholic play.
The No. 5 RedHawks outscored the Spartans 28-11 over the final 10:25 of the game.
“We’re on the road and we didn’t score for the first five minutes of the third quarter, I’m thinking how are we going to get out of this six-point hole,” Marist coach Gene Nolan said. “We got our hands on the ball, were more disciplined on defense and more patient on offense.”
Nic Weishar scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the pivotal second half. His layup to start the fourth quarter gave Marist a 40-38 advantage. The RedHawks (21-5, 4-2) never trailed again.
“Our team has great heart and our senior leadership is great,” said Weishar, a sophomore. “Our seniors wouldn’t let us give up when we were struggling.”
Oden added 13 points, including the big three from the top of the key that brought the RedHawks to within 36-33 late in the third.
L.J. McIntosh had 11 points for Marist, which went 9-of-11 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
“I asked myself, ‘What can I do to make the team better and help us win the game?’ ” Oden said. “Knocking down that shot could help my team.”
Marian Catholic led 17-7 after one quarter. But sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis, the team’s leading scorer, picked up his third foul at 6:45 of the second quarter and sat the rest of the half. That provided a huge window of opportunity for Marist, which took instant advantage. The RedHawks closed the first half on an 11-2 run to grab a 28-27 lead at the intermission.
Oden sparked the second-quarter turnaround, hitting two three-pointers as part of his nine-point effort in the quarter. Weishar scored six points and McIntosh four in the second quarter.
Ulis finished with a team-high 13 points. John Oliver added nine and Erik Crittendon seven for Marian Catholic (13-9, 3-2), which was 19-of-40 from the field. Marist was 18-of-40 and a solid 8-of-17 in the second half.
“We lost our confidence and we weren’t playing very good defense,” Crittendon said of the Spartans’ second-half collapse. “They hit their shots. I still thought we were going to come back but we couldn’t knock down our shots.”
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