INTER-COUNTY LEAGUE Stonestreet leads Devils

He made his first nine shots as McDonald scored a 70-59 win over South Range.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MCDONALD -- McDonald's Kevin Stonestreet didn't miss a shot until 7 minutes, 25 seconds remained Friday against Inter-County League opponent South Range.
By then, the Blue Devils were comfortably ahead of the Raiders, 57-43.
Stonestreet made his first nine shots of the game and finished with a game-high 27 points on 12 of 14 shooting from the field as the Devils (4-0, 2-0) turned back South Range 70-59.
Incredibly, the 6-foot, 1-inch senior didn't even start the game for McDonald.
Stonestreet suffered an injury earlier in the week when he was carted off the court on a stretcher and taken to the hospital after a collision in a game against Jackson-Milton.
But the team's leading scorer and "go-to" guy established his presence under the basket quickly and scored nine points in the final four minutes of the first quarter.
Hot shooting quarter
McDonald erupted in the quarter by hitting 10 of 16 shots and enjoyed a 21-8 first-quarter lead.
Stonestreet, the youngest of four brothers to play sports at McDonald, said he felt good despite not getting the starting nod.
"I felt good in warm-ups so I knew I would play," Stonestreet said. "I was on tonight, I couldn't really explain why."
McDonald coach Ed Dolsak knew that when he did put Stonestreet in the game that he would be able to spark his teammates.
"Kevin's play every game is about the same," said Dolsak. "He's pretty solid, pretty stable and we count on him in key situations. He's our go-to man. He takes good percentage shots and doesn't miss very often."
But Stonestreet wasn't a solo effort.
The entire McDonald starting five played exceptionally well against the Raiders, who were without their top player, Ryan Copeland, who was injured in an automobile accident.
All five starters for the Devils scored at least seven points.
Nick Testa scored 14 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds, while Josh Camuso chipped in with 12 points. Point guard Tyler Stanley scored eight points, while Tyler Lunn had seven.
"All our guys are capable players," said Dolsak. "But our guys know that our inside-out offense is keyed by Kevin [Stonestreet]. When he's open they pass it to him and when he's not they shoot it."
Raiders make run
Despite the strong start by McDonald, the Raiders showed they had a lot of heart by making runs in the second and fourth periods to get back in the game.
They cut a 26-12 deficit to 26-20 late in the second period behind the shooting of Jordan Taylor and George Rohan.
Taylor led the Raiders in scoring with 15 points, while Rohan added 14.
Again the duo, along with Ritchie Schuler (10 points) and Jared Oliver (nine points), keyed a fourth quarter rally that cut the McDonald 14-point lead to 61-54 with 3:20 left in the game.
Each time, however, the Devils regrouped and were able to hold on for the victory.
"They made quite a few runs at us," Dolsak said. "We showed character by responding each time with a run of our own."