It only counted as one win for Lyons Township High School boys basketball team, but the Lions’ 50-38 victory at York Saturday night carries great significance within the heated Western Suburban Conference-Silver Division race.
Avenging a loss against the Dukes from earlier this season, LT (18-3, 8-2) assumed a two-game lead conference lead over York (15-8, 6-4) while also keeping pace with co-leader OPRF (19-5, 8-2).
With York eliminated from title contention, the showdown between OPRF and host LT on Saturday, Feb. 22 (7 p.m.) essentially will decide the conference championship.
However, to build even more hype for their upcoming clash with OPRF, the Lions needed to take care of business against a scrappy York bunch.
“We knew this was our biggest game of the year,” said LT guard/forward Tim Cosentino. “The first time we played York, they played with great intensity which kind of threw us off, so we came into [tonight] with way more intensity.”
LT trailed the entire first half until a pair of buckets from Matt Hirt (10 points, 5 rebounds) lifted the Lions to a 15-14 advantage at the break.
The Lions opened the third quarter with a 6-2 spurt ignited by two more baskets from Hirt to take a 21-16 at the 5:36 mark of the period.
Protecting a 38-36 lead with 3:24 remaining in the game, the Lions’ Ed Viliunas (13 points) nailed a three-point shot to trigger a 12-2 run the rest of the way en route to the victory. During the decisive run, Cosentino tallied six points and Viliunas added five.
The formula for victory was as smooth and simple as the three treys Viliunas sank on the night.
“I think just we needed to come into their place and play harder than York,” Viliunas said. “If we play harder than they do, I think we are the better team.”
Steve Ganser led the Dukes with a game-high 17 points. However, the bruising 6-4 post player received little offensive support from his teammates. Tom Judge scored seven points and Roger Coffin added five for York.
“We really wanted to make a conscious effort to start the second half on kicking it inside,” Lyons Township coach Conte Stamas said. “We scored a little on the inside which opened things up on the perimeter. That gave us a nice balance.”
On Friday, the Lions completed a season sweep of Glenbard West with a 52-48 win. Cosentino led a balanced attack with 14 points, while Jeff Adams and Viliunas chipped in 10 apiece.
Lyons Township, the No. 3 seed in the Richards Sectional, has a busy week ahead with three games on tap. The Lions visit Hinsdale South on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) before returning home for games against conference foe Downers Grove North Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Willowbrook Saturday (6 p.m.)
“We have two conference games left, and we can’t afford to look ahead at all,” Stamas said. “Right now, we are defending pretty well so I’m happy with that. If we stay within the team concept offensively, we are just much more efficient.”