KIRKWOOD – It appeared to be standard operating procedure for the Vianney basketball team.
The Griffins, which had won the first two games of the Jerry Boeckman Memorial Vianney Invitational Basketball Tournament in convincing fashion, opened a sizable cushion heading into the fourth quarter during their final game against Hazelwood Central.
But the Vianney lead quickly evaporated, and the last two minutes became a rollercoaster of emotion to determine whether the Griffins could hold on for victory.
“When they pushed back, we kind of needed that,” junior Luke Walsh said. “It was good for us to get a sense of that atmosphere.”
Walsh led the way with 17 points, including four consecutive free throws in the final minute as Vianney withstood a furious comeback attempt to defeat Hazelwood Central 66-60 Friday and win the Vianney Invitational Tournament.
Vianney led 52-33 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Hawks turned up the defensive pressure, and the combination of Izy Prude and Travis Green III filled up the basket from every angle.
Prude scored nine unanswered points in the opening 2:15 of the final frame, including a four-point play after he was fouled while draining a corner three. Prude scored 17 of his 24 points in the final eight minutes, and his fourth 3-ball of the quarter sliced the deficit to eight points.
“Izy got hot,” Hazelwood Central coach Kelvin Lee said.
Two electric baskets in transition by senior Travis Green III made the score 62-58 with 2:30 remaining.
“I have to give my guys credit, they didn’t quit. They kept fighting hard and that’s all I can ask,” Lee said.
But Vianney used a series of defensive stops to quell the storm. Griffins’ 7-foot-3 center Symon Ghai came 18 feet away from the basket to block and corral an attempted jumper by Green, leading to two Walsh free throws. A rimmed out three from Prude was ripped off the iron by Ghai and led to two more points for Walsh.
“I thought we were really terrible for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, but I thought the last two, we played like a mature team, moving the ball, getting it in our free throw shooters hands and finishing it at the line,” Vianney coach Kevin Walsh said.
The game featured two of the top scorers in the area, with both Walsh and Green averaging north of 26 points per game coming into the contest.
Luke Walsh accepted the challenge of guarding Green man-to-man and held the prolific Hawks’ scorer to six points in the first half.
“As I’ve started to get some (college) interest, the big thing is that you have to guard. Green is kind of known around St. Louis, so I told the coaches before the game that I wanted to stay in front of him,” Walsh said.
Hazelwood Central had a plan for Walsh as well, holding him to three points over the first 15 minutes of game time. Double-teams on Walsh forced the ball out of his hands and forced other players to score.
Eddie Smajic obliged.
Smajic scored eight points in the first half, and his tough, fall-away jumper coupled with a triple from Walsh gave the Griffins five consecutive points to close out the half and a 32-23 lead at intermission.
“I figured after the first two games that they’d come at me, and I knew (Smajic) would get going so I just went with it,” Luke Walsh said. “After I hit that three, I felt that gave us more boost going into the second half.”
That boost turned into a 15-4 run to open the third quarter that included five points apiece from Smajic and Walsh as the Griffins built a commanding 19-point lead after three quarters.
“We came out with a lot of energy. We made the extra pass, knocked down a couple shots and the crowd brought great energy into the gym. When we’re playing for each other, we’re hard to stop,” said Smajic, who finished with 16 points.
The third quarter burst was fueled by contributions up and down the lineup, notably Ghai, who finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and built a fortress of rim-protection.
“He brings a presence,” Smajic said.
But the fourth quarter presence belonged to Green and Prude, as the two led a ferocious Hazelwood Central comeback with incredible shot-making skills.
“We have talent, and if we play hard, share the ball and defend, we’re going to win a lot of games,” Lee said.
The Griffins lost a similar game to Lutheran St. Charles in the Vianney Invitational last season after building a big lead. On Friday, the ability to win a game that was on the brink of slipping away provided an important early-season step for Vianney.
“We knew Central was going to keep coming, which was good, we hadn’t been in a tight game, and we need to learn how to close out games,” Vianney coach Kevin Walsh said.
Smajic added, “I think we’ve matured a lot since last year.”