Nolan Catholic boys push past Bishop Lynch

By Shawn Smajstrla

Special to the Star-Telegram

Nolan Catholic continued its impressive season with a 59-41 victory over rival Dallas Bishop Lynch on Tuesday night at Hartnett Arena. The Vikings (23-1, 3-1 TAPPS District 1-5A) are just two points shy of a perfect record on the season, with their only loss coming by a point on a buzzer-beater to Plano John Paul II earlier this month.

Perhaps most impressive about the Vikings' success this year is that it's come against a tough slate of opponents.

"It's been our toughest schedule since I've been here for 20 years," coach Steve Prud'homme said after the game. "We've seen everything and everybody. We've played Euless Trinity and Keller and some really good, talented teams, and we've hung in there. So we're really confident in our experience."

Michael Hoffman had 23 points to lead the Vikings, who found themselves tied 10-10 with the Friars (13-12, 1-3) after the first quarter. But Nolan used an 18-2 run to open the second period and take control of the game.

"We weren't running our offense very well in the first quarter," Prud'homme said. "They were defending us really well, and we got a little frustrated.

"But the second quarter we started moving the ball a little bit, and we had two or three people hit some shots and it kind of opened up for us."

Bishop Lynch changed the pace of the game in the third and seemed to benefit from the faster tempo. The Friars cut the Vikings' lead to 41-33 at the 2:12 mark of the third quarter but would get no closer. Nolan opened the final period with a 6-0 run to stretch the lead back to 18 and close the door.

Gabe Gunn pitched in nine points while Michael Sarrat added eight for the Vikings.

Nolan already has three tournament championships this season, and now it's setting its sights on a district championship.

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