McDonald boys dominate in opener

Girard used constant substitutions and lost 85-61.
By JIM FLICK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
McDONALD -- Girard sent wave after wave of players against McDonald, but the Indians crashed against the reef formed by the Blue Devils' strong starting five.
McDonald (1-0) defeated Girard 85-61 Friday night in the season opener for both teams. The Blue Devils were led by Brad Hinton, who scored 25 points and added 17 rebounds. Corey Vukovich scored 21 points; Andy Timko contributed 20; Steven Hughes tossed in 12, and Matt Firment added six.
While McDonald's five starters played most of the game, all 15 players on Girard's roster shared time on the floor. In fact, Girard's five starters spent less than a minute on the floor before they were replaced by five fresh players. Girard (0-1) continued rotating players frequently throughout the game, often replacing the entire squad with five-for-five substitutions.
"I've never seen anything like that," said McDonald coach Jeff Rasile.
Immediate gap
But the endless rotation of manpower did Girard little good. Hughes scored the first five points of the game, and the Blue Devils led 11-0 before the Indians scored their first point. At the end of the first quarter, McDonald led 22-8 and stretched the lead to 50-28 at halftime. Timko scored 14 points in the first half for the Blue Devils, while Vukovich tossed in 13, and Hinton added 12.
In the third quarter, Girard's mass substitutions allowed the Indians to close the gap a bit for a while.
"Physically, we were exhausted," Rasile said. Rasile sent Dave Dugan into the game to spell his starters. Dugan didn't score, but Rasile credited him with doing "a good job" and allowing the starters some breathing room. Mike Sobinovsky also came off the bench and scored on a foul shot.
With the help of the subs, the Blue Devils recovered sufficiently to hold a 65-50 lead at the end of the third quarter. A strong fourth quarter resulted in the final 24-point bulge.
McDonald also had a strong night at the foul line, sinking 32-of-39.
Indians lack rhythm
The mass substitutions seemed to prevent Girard from establishing any offensive rhythm. Furthermore, the Indians emphasized 3-point shots, which they frequently missed. Girard was led in scoring by Brett Dutton and Brett Cubellis, who netted 12 points each. Dutton sank two 3-pointers while shooting 5-for-10 from the field, and Cubellis' four 3-pointers accounted for all his scoring as he sank 4-of-10 shots. Sean Mostov scored 10 points for Girard.
As a team, the Indians shot 22-of-77 from the floor, a poor 29 percent.
Girard fielded a much bigger team than McDonald, led by 6-foot-10 David Culp. Rasile had the Blue Devils collapse on Culp whenever he had the ball. The strategy worked -- Culp scored only four points on two field goals.
The game marked a strong start for the McDonald team, which racked up an impressive 20-3 record last season.
"Obviously, we need to clean up a few things," Rasile said, "but we're happy with tonight's game."