St Elizabeth’s Aiden Tobiason attempts a pass during their win over Salesianum, Photo courtesy of Nick Halliday
The sell out crowd and the big game atmosphere had little effect on both teams as St. Elizabeth settled in to their 2-2-1 full court press defensively and received some hot three point shooting get them on the score board early and often scoring 20 points in the first 6 minutes of the contest. Sallies clawed their way to within 4 but this would be the closest they would get the rest of the game. Temple Owl recruit Aiden Tobiason made his presence known early as his relentless attack on the offensive boards and sharp shooting led Vikings to a 24-20 1st quarter lead.
Three minutes into the 2nd, Sallies continued to play hard and make the most of their opportunities around the basket. The Sallies defense held the Vikings to only 8 points in the first 5 minutes of the quarter, making it more a more difficult for the home team to get the good looks at the basket they enjoyed in the first quarter. St. E looked a bit out of sorts. The extension of the Sallies D to take away the 3-point shot and less offensive rebounds forced the Vikings to run more half court sets. Solid foul shooting helped the Vikings withstand their offensive troubles as Steven Nixon Jr. knocked down a deep three point shot to extend the lead to 9, only to see Sallies cut it to 7 at the half. 42-35 St. Elizabeths. Tobiason led all scorers at the half with 18 points.
Back and forth they went early in the 3rd. Sallies seemed to embrace the up and down pace in which the Vikings wanted to play at and beat the home team at their own game on a number of possessions. Coach Cassidy didn’t like what he saw early and called a timeout at the 4:40 mark despite still being up 7. The Vikings players seemed rattled but not deterred, weathering the storm and keeping the away team at arms length. Without glancing at the scoreboard, one would might think Sallies had gained the momentum but all their hard work didn’t result in points, leaving them down 7 once again with 1:26 to go in the quarter. The Vikings would add a deep three point shot at the end of the 3rd quarter to extend the lead to 64-54 going into the 4th.
Good players come up big in big games and Aiden Tobiason met the standard as he came out in the 4th quarter and scored St. E’s first 5 points on 2 free throws and a 3-point shot. Up 15 with 3:25 to go in the game, St. Elizabeth continued to stick with the game plan, pushing the ball when the opportunity presented itself but conversely working the ball around the perimiter in the half court looking for dribble penetration openings regardless of who had the ball in their hands. Julius Wright and Steven Nixon Jr. showed great poise down the stretch, making the correct decision to push the ball or pull back and run the clock. When all was said and done, The home Vikings would go on to secure the victory, 84-77. Aiden Tobiason and his teammate Julius Wright led the way with 28 points each to propel St. Elizabeth to a well earned victory in front of a sell out and then some crowd.
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