Mike Howland and his St. Viator teammates couldn’t be blamed for having Saturday’s game with Prospect circled on their schedules.
After all, it was the Knights who ended St. Viator’s chances for a repeat championship at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic earlier this season with a last-second, second-round victory.
But this is a different group of Lions, a more cohesive unit. That teamwork was evident once again Saturday, as Tom Nolan controlled the inside with 18 points and leading scorer Mike Howland added 18 from the outside as Viator cruised to a 75-52 victory.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes for us to win the game,” said Howland, who was coming off Friday’s career-best 33-point effort in a victory over Marian Catholic. “Sometimes that means scoring, sometimes that means dishing it off. When our post guys are finishing like tonight, I’ll definitely get them the ball.”
The difference for the Lions was the second quarter, when Viator exploded for a 26-9 advantage. But the host squad was on the mark from the start, hitting its first seven shots and never trailing the rest of the way.
Viator (14-6) has now won six in a row and holds a 7-1 record in 1998.
`This was just an awesome team effort,” Howland said. “We were really playing well on offense, defense, rebounding–just doing everything well.
“We are definitely playing a lot better together, and we are on a roll. It’s coming down to the end of the season, and we are all really pumped up.”
Steve Richenberger and Taki Mullins led Prospect (9-9) with nine points apiece. But Matt Walpole, who hit the game-winning three-pointer against St. Viator at Wheeling, was held to just five points–all in the third quarter.
“This is a nice neighborhood rivalry and the kids always get excited,” said St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski. “They beat us earlier this year in overtime at Wheeling in a great game. But we were very focused coming out tonight, and when you shoot like we did from the field it makes it easier.”
