No contest: McKinley by 82

The defending Division I state champions were too much for Austintown Fitch.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- The Canton McKinley Bulldogs came to Austintown with a lot of impressive credentials Friday night.
The defending Division I state champions returned four starters from last year's team and were ranked 16th in the nation by USA Today after losing by one point to Oak Hill Academy last week.
Against the Falcons, the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0) lived up to that hype and more as they raced out to a 9-0 lead in the first 65 seconds and went on to defeat Fitch 108-26 in a Federal League contest.
Raymar Morgan, who is headed to Michigan State next year, capped off that early nine-point spurt with an alley-oop slam dunk that electrified the crowd and the rout was on.
Morgan led all scorers with 29 points.
McKinley had four other players score in double figures and 10 Bulldogs hit the scoring column.
The talent
"They are incredible," said Falcon coach Roger Day. "They are a great basketball team. You can see how they won the state championship and they return a lot of great players. They have three players that are going [to Division I schools].
"That's a special team."
The Bulldogs outscored the Falcons 27-6 in the first quarter, 28-5 in the second, 26-6 in the third and 27-9 in the final period.
The Bulldogs have given up only 41 points per game this year by playing defense with a lot of intensity.
That full-court pressure defense employed by McKinley forced the Falcons into 11 first quarter turnovers and 16 by halftime. In the second half, the Bulldogs pulled off the press but McKinley's quickness was too much for the young Falcons.
"I thought our kids did a good job on defensive position," Canton McKinley coach Dave Hoover said. "We sat back in our half-court defense after halftime but still played with enough intensity to keep Fitch off the scoreboard.
"I thought we defended them well although we didn't reach one of our goals."
Hoover said that he wanted to see his team hold Fitch's standout forward James Wallace to 15 or fewer points, but the senior managed to score 20 of the Falcons' 26 points.
Wallace was the lone bright spot and showed why he is one of the premier players in the area capable of playing against top-notch competition.
Wallace hit three 3-pointers and was 9 of 10 from the foul line.
McKinley's defense was the catalyst for its high scoring offensive attack. The Bulldogs attacked the basket at will but showed a nice balance of outside shooting along with several spectacular slam dunks.
Plenty of thrills
Raymar and Brown, who is headed to Wright State, provided most of the thrills along with 6-7 center Ricky Jackson.
Brown scored 20 points while Jackson scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Marcus Parker was the Bulldogs' top outside shooting threat as he canned four 3-pointers and 14 points.
Despite the loss, Day said the Falcons (1-3, 0-1) have to draw on this game to forge ahead with their season.
"We want to find out what kind of kids we have in a game like this," Day said. "We want kids that will keep playing no matter what the scoreboard says."
Day said that he was more than impressed with the team-style of play that McKinley displayed against his team.
"I talked to coach Hoover before the game," said Day. "He told me that he's never been around a team that not only has great athletes but great basketball players.
"They understand the game. They know the game. They pass well and they play well together," continued Day. "They are the best team I've ever seen and that's saying a lot because I've been around a lot of pretty good teams."