Stanley steps up, Devils move on

McDonald advanced to play Sebring in the district final.
STRUTHERS -- At this point in high school boys basketball tournament play, it's not uncommon for a higher-seeded team to be caught looking ahead and end up being eliminated by a lower-seeded team.
Second-seeded McDonald took the court against unseeded Southern in a Division IV district semifinal game Wednesday at Struthers Fieldhouse, with the prospect of a rematch against top-seeded Sebring, which defeated Lowellville 29-14.
If the Blue Devils were looking to avenge last year's 53-41 loss to in the district final to Sebring it did not show as they pressured the Indians into 23 turnovers en route to a 58-44 victory.
McDonald (20-2) can now think about Sebring, ranked No. 2 in the state, but coach Jeff Rasile admitted his team needs to take better care of the ball on the offensive end.
"This is what everyone talks about," said Rasile of the matchup. "In order for us to beat them [Sebring], we're going to have to really do some things better on the offensive end. But this is the game everyone has been begging for, so we'll see what happens."
Slow start
The Blue Devils started out slow offensively, trailing 6-2 when Southern senior Aaron Blatch hit a 3-pointer with 4:03 to play in the first. From there, McDonald's 1-2-2 zone press forced five consecutive turnovers, two of which the Devils converted into layups, as they tied the score at 11 at the end of the quarter.
That pressure carried over into the second frame as the Indians (11-11) missed their first seven field goal attempts and turned the ball over five times before a bucket by junior Aaron Boston broke the scoring drought at the 3:32 mark, cutting the Devils' lead to 18-13. McDonald's lead ballooned to 29-13 as it converted four more Southern turnovers into field goals and took a 31-15 lead into the locker room.
The Indians used a special zone defense in an attempt to stop Blue Devils' James Beedle and Corey Vukovic, but senior Tyler Stanley picked up the slack, scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second period. Beedle finished with 15 and Mark Macali added 11.
"From about the middle of the first quarter until halftime, they [Indians] struggled with our pressure and we got some easy hoops," said Rasile. "They played that triangle-and-two on Beedle and Vukovic, but Tyler Stanley really stepped up. What really impressed me about Tyler was that he was knocking down some jump shots and really making them question their triangle-and-two."
Answering the call
Southern started the third with a 9-0 run, including back-to-back 3s from Blatch and Jesse Shilot, that cut the Devils lead to 31-24 with just over five minutes to play in the quarter. But the Devils were able to turn the pressure back up, and the Indians were held scoreless for the next four minutes as McDonald ran its lead to 41-27 heading into the final frame.
"We were trying to deny the ball in the second half, but there was some miscommunication," said Rasile. "The kids knew, and we made it clear, that we wanted to deny the ball, but one guy's denying and one guy's not. And when they made their run, we didn't want to go back into the press because we didn't want to give them the easy hoops. But they scored 44 points and that's still a good defensive effort."
Senior Josh Diaz led the Indians with 17 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. Senior teammate David Earich hauled in 13 boards.
The Indians outrebounded the Devils 38-25, a stat that Rasile says he's been dealing with all year.
"It doesn't concern me," said Rasile. "We play a zone and it's hard sometimes to box out. Diaz got some offensive rebounds at the end, which hurt us. We've got to be more aggressive in there. We didn't get the job done inside like we want to, but we've gotten outrebounded all year so it's not really shocking to me."