Girls Basketball: St Viator downs Maine East, advances to championship braket

Updated: December 23, 2011 11:27PM

Stalling tactics usually work best for men trying to get out of doing things for their wives, but Friday, it worked best for Maine East.

Saint Viator (10-4) remained perfect in pool play of the 29th annual Snowflake Tournament by defeating the Blue Demons (2-11) 39-29, but both teams were able to advance to the championship bracket.

“We played well on the defensive side, but our shots weren’t really falling in the first half,” said St. Viator senior forward Morgan Hess. “Overall, we liked how we played and we’re going to try to get some more wins.”

The Lions had plenty of room on the offensive end with the Blue Demons playing zone and were able to end the first quarter with a 13-7 lead.

Meanwhile, St. Viator smothered Maine East on the defensive end and did not allow them to move the ball around with any ease.

When the Blue Demons were able to score, the Lions answered right back and held on to a 26-17 lead at halftime.

The second half brought more of the same from both sides as Maine East struggled to get anything moving on offense and the Lions had no problem finding scoring chances on their end.

“Coach told us that we have to move the ball around the perimeter so we can get some post action and I think we did a good job,” said Hess. “Our goal was to crack down on defense this tournament and I feel like we’ve improved.”

The strange moment of the game came with just a few minutes left with the ball in the hands of St. Viator.

The Blue Demons would only advance to the top bracket if they held the Lions under 40 points and they received some help.

With the score at 37-27, both teams stayed motionless and the point total did not increase to the delight of Maine East head coach Karol Hanusiak and to the surprise of the Lions athletes.

“We heard after that they were just trying to keep us under 40 points,” said Hess. “We had no idea so it was a surprise, but we handled it well.”

Despite not playing for the majority of the second half after a double technical, senior guard Katie Gavin led her team with eight points.

Senior center Lauren Rooney followed up with seven points and five boards while senior forwards and sisters Mallory and Morgan Hess finished the game with six points with Morgan getting six steals and Mallory leading the team with six rebounds.

For the Blue Demons, senior Kristen Georgopoulos led all scorers with seven points and added three steals.

Sophomore forward Shaylee Sloan added four points and grabbed 12 boards while senior Laura Lherisson scored six points and had six rebounds.

The Lions will square off with Guerin Prep in the semifinals of the championship bracket Monday at 7:30 and the Blue Demons will have the pleasure of playing conference foe Glenbrook North in the 6 p.m. game.

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