Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Irish guard Carey Palermo hit the game-winning shot in the 57-55 victory.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEWTON FALLS -- Ursuline's Carey Palermo wasn't supposed to take the last shot in overtime against Newton Falls Friday night.
But when Palermo found himself with the ball and the clock ticking down, the junior guard double-pumped and hit a 17-foot jump shot at the buzzer to give Ursuline a 57-55 win.
The game-winning shot by Palermo enabled the Irish to overcome a 12-point fourth quarter deficit and allowed Ursuline coach Keith Gunther to enjoy a successful return to Newton Falls, where he was an assistant coach to Roy Sembach for seven years.
"This was an unbelievable way to come back home," Gunther said. "It's a great feeling. I told our players it would be a huge victory for me if we won this game.
"Our players played tough down the stretch for us. It was just an unbelievable effort."
The Irish battled back using some of the attributes that Gunther said he learned from Sembach.
"Roy [Sembach] taught me about being competitive and being prepared," Gunther said. "We played great defense to get back in this game."
Turnovers costly
The Irish forced six turnovers in the fourth quarter and overcame the 42-30 deficit behind the hot shooting of senior Brett Neely, who scored nine of his 20 points in the period.
Sophomore John Rouan came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points.
Newton Falls' Andrew Grunder did all he could to help his team win this game. The senior guard scored 25 points and hit crucial shots in overtime to give the Tigers a chance to win.
Grunder's 3-point shot tied the game at 55-55 with 41 seconds left in overtime.
Ursuline then ran the clock down and called a timeout to set up the game-winning play.
"The play wasn't really set up for me," said Palermo. "But the ball came to me; the guy came out at me, I pumped faked and pulled up with the shot. "I knew it was good."
Tigers excel on defense
The Tigers used their patented defense prowess to hold the Irish to seven points in the second period and four in the third.
"Keith's gonna do a great job and he's already doing a great job," Sembach said of his former assistant. "I just wish tonight would have been our night and wish he wins all the rest.
"They played our style of basketball. It's a good style, a winning style. I think when the game comes down to one possession it's anybody's game and tonight was their night."
Irish without Braxton
Ursuline, which played without 6-foot, 6-inch, 300-pound center Branndon Braxton, still managed to out-rebound the Tigers 37-26.
Braxton was making a football visit to the University of Oklahoma.
Sembach said he and Gunther would share an experience after the game that the two enjoyed the past seven seasons.
"We're going to go to my house and watch the film of this game," Sembach said. "You can be sure he's coming, although I'm not sure he'd come if they lost."