Senior success: Irish clinch SVC crown

Ursuline has a tournament tune-up Sunday against Boardman.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was only fitting that the Ursuline High girls basketball team wrapped up an outright Steel Valley Conference championship over their rival, Cardinal Mooney, at home on Senior Night.
Tyra Grant scored 24 points while Vanessa Dickson and Tiffani Miller each added 11 to lead the Irish to a 66-39 win over the Cardinals.
Seven seniors were honored before the contest and all seven contributed significantly to help capture the group's fourth consecutive SVC title.
With the championship secured, the Irish (15-4, 7-0) turn their attention to postseason play after a big tournament tune-up game with another rival, Boardman, Sunday night at Ursuline.
"We gave all the seniors a lot of court time and they all played real well," said Ursuline coach Sean Durkin. "It's always nice to get a win over Mooney.
"Winning the league is always priority number one," Durkin added. "We now have a great opportunity to close our season against a program with the stature of a Boardman and hopefully that will help us get ready for the tournament."
The Irish play in the Division III District at United High School as the tournament's top seed and they are a favorite to advance to regional play.
Strong defense
It was a strong defensive effort and a great transitional game that led the Irish in Thursday's win over the Cardinals (8-12, 5-2).
Ursuline held Mooney to just 13 points in the first half and forced the Cardinals into 12 turnovers as they slowly built an insurmountable lead.
"We think we can be a very good defensive team when we do things the right way," Durkin said. "We certainly did in the first half.
"Mooney didn't get very many good looks at the basket and that dictated the first half."
Grant scored just nine of her 24 points in the first two periods while Miller and junior Megan Saccomen helped spark the offensive effort.
"Their transition game was awesome tonight," said Mooney coach Jack Bermann. "We played our butts off. We tried to junk it up a bit and it worked for a little while but once they get going in transition it's all over.
"It wasn't just Tyra [Grant] and Vanessa [Dickson], it was everybody. They just got out and ran."
Big quarter
Grant put on a clinic in the third quarter by scoring 13 points. She also rebounded well, blocked a couple of shots and made several great no-look passes.
"I had so much help tonight," said the senior who is headed to Penn State next year. "I always say that I have a lot of talented teammates if teams try to stop me. Tonight you saw that from everyone."
Dickson had the hot hand in the final quarter as she hit all four of her shots in the period as the Irish safely put the contest away.
Mooney's young team was led by Alex Woytek who scored 11 points while Sarah Pelini led the Cardinals with six rebounds.
"This was a great learning experience for our young girls," Bermann said. "We played hard and didn't quit against a very good Ursuline team."