Ursuline's defense shuts down Rayen

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ursuline coach Keith Gunther wasn't very popular with his players this past week.
"We had a brutal week of practice after losing to Akron Hoban last weekend," Gunther said. "We hadn't been playing defense because the kids were all about their offensive games.
"I had to remind them that Ursuline basketball is all about defense."
The Irish (5-2, 2-0) got the message and the Rayen Tigers were the victims of a fired-up Ursuline team, which held Rayen to 15 first half points en route to a 62-31 Steel Valley Conference victory.
All five Ursuline starters scored at least eight points in a well balanced offensive game but it was the defense that had Gunther taking notice.
"I know this team knows how to play defense," Gunther said. "Tonight we played the way we are capable of and if we do that night in and night out we will be tough to beat."
Force early turnovers
Ursuline broke out to a 12-1 lead early by forcing six first quarter turnovers and dominating the boards.
They never looked back.
The quick start all but ended any chance that first-year Rayen coach Jason McCray would get a win while returning home to face his old team. McCray was a player on the 1994 Ursuline team that won a state championship.
His Tigers never could get untracked offensively in the first half and that meant a long uphill climb to get back in the game.
Didn't shoot well
"We didn't shoot the basketball very well," McCray said. "I think I had some jitters about coming here and coaching against my old school and that may have filtered down to the players.
"We did a better job in the second half but Ursuline is a tough team to come back against."
The Irish went on to lead 18-3 at the end of the first quarter and 37-15 at halftime.
D'Aundray Brown scored eight of his game-high 13 points in the first half while senior Lance Randall scored all nine of his points in the first two periods.
Ursuline used a nice mix of good outside shooting and the strong inside play of center Jerome Jones to keep the pressure on the Rayen defense.
Dominated boards
Jones scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Brown chipped in with 11 rebounds as Ursuline owned a 42-32 rebounding advantage over the Tigers.
The other two Irish starters were sophomore Nick McCartney who connected on 3 three-pointers and scored 11 points, and junior Jason White, who finished with 11 points.
"Balanced scoring is what we've been looking for all year," Gunther said. "Normally Jones or Brown have been getting most of our points so it was nice to see everyone get involved."
The Irish defense limited Rayen to just 11 of 44 shooting from the field and forced 16 turnovers.
Jamayle Roland led the Tigers (1-5, 0-2) with seven points while Matt Gordon had six.