ICL Western Reserve clinches tie

Another win will give the Blue Devils the crown outright.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BERLIN CENTER -- Western Reserve's fans chanted "ICL" in the final seconds of the Blue Devils' 56-50 win over McDonald which clinched a tie for the Inter-County League championship.
In the locker room following the game, Western Reserve coach Steve Miller and his team weren't quite as enthusiastic about the title -- just yet.
"We want to win [the ICL] outright," Miller said. "We still have some work to do."
The Blue Devils (13-4, 11-0) can clinch the championship outright with a win at Lowellville on Friday.
"We're not gonna let our guards down," Miller said. "We're not complacent. We're going to go out Friday and we want it all ourselves.
"It's nice to have a share of the title at this point but we set the bar high and we want to finish the job," Miller said.
School streak
Western Reserve has won a school record 11 straight games.
But the record didn't come easy.
McDonald (10-5, 7-3) battled back from a 11-point third quarter deficit to tie the game at 40 midway through the final period.
Western Reserve regrouped and scored the next seven points to open up a 47-40 lead.
But McDonald came roaring back one last time to cut the lead to 51-48 on the second of back-to-back 3-point shots by Joe Kunkel.
Western Reserve's Mark Dickerhoof made two free throws with 54 seconds left.
McDonald again cut the lead to three on a basket by Nick Testa with 40 seconds left.
Testa finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead McDonald.
The Devils scored the last three points of the game on a basket by Nick Sanders and a free throw Jake Zatchok.
Turnover woes
"We missed a lot of easy shots and had a lot of silly turnovers," McDonald coach Jeff Rasile said. "You have to play the game under control and we didn't down the stretch."
The Devils got 14 points from junior guard David Ferrando and 13 Sanders. Matt Speece added 10 points while Zatchok grabbed 15 rebounds.
"Tonight showed how balanced of a team we are," Miller said. "When we were losing games early this year, no one knew how to step up late in the game. Now all our guys are capable of stepping up."
For McDonald, James Beedle scored 14 points and Mark Macali added 10 points and six rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.