BOYS BASKETBALL Irish capture sixth straight game

Ursuline posted a 30-10 second quarter advantage to beat Woodrow Wilson.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- What a difference another season is making for Ursuline High basketball coach Steve Leslie.
Thanks to a 30-10 second-quarter run Friday, the Irish won their sixth-straight game, defeating Wilson, 96-74.
Consecutive wins against Rayen, Chaney and Wilson gives Ursuline, which was 4-16 last year in Leslie's debut, a City Series sweep.
The game began in Wilson's favor as Ursuline trailed 17-8 at the 2:47 mark of the first quarter after Redmen guard Ellis Moody's 3-pointer.
The Irish closed the margin to 19-16 at the end of the quarter, then watched the Redmen (3-3) post a 5-0 run.
After a timeout, the Irish outscored the Redmen 30 to 5.
Leading the rally: Terrence Graves broke a 28-28 deadlock with a driving layup. Marc Palermo and Isaiah Poindexter took over, scoring the next 16 Ursuline points. Palermo's 10 points included three treys.
Poindexter made three consecutive buckets, with a pair coming after steals.
In the second half, Ursuline's pressing defense was just as devastating as their offense.
Palermo, who scored 27 points and was 6 of 12 from three-point land, also had eight assists and six rebounds.
"We started slow and so did I, but I was told to play my game and the shots would come, and they did," Palermo said." And once the threes began to fall, I felt like I was in a zone."
Poindexter, Ursuline's sixth man, finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
"We were going through the motions early, then Coach Leslie woke us up and we caught fire," Poindexter said.
Leslie agreed.
"We started slow, but once somebody gets going, everybody joins in," Leslie said. "Our defensive pressure all over the court, which we like to play as much as possible, really made a difference tonight."
Lots of scoring: Ten Ursuline players scored with Graves having a 13-point night and Andre Edmonds scoring 12 and grabbing nine rebounds. The Irish had a 48-35 advantage on the boards.
Wilson junior forward Antwaun Johnson had a double-double with 27 points and 16 of his team's 35 rebounds.
Randall Poindexter, a cousin of Ursuline's Isaiah Poindexter, was in double figures with 11 points and Demar Clark scored 10 .
Wilson coach Mark Cherol said, "They just took it to us in the second quarter and dictated the game completely."