Clutch baskets give Mooney victory over Ursuline, 54-51

Both the Cardinals and Irish stand at 3-2.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — Cardinal Mooney High coach Steve Leslie and Ursuline High coach Keith Gunther kept their respective teams long in the lockerroom following the game between the two parochial school rivals.

Each coach had plenty to say to their teams after the Cardinals held off a late furious Ursuline rally to turn back the Irish 54-51 in a non-conference matchup.

After all, this was Mooney-Ursuline and the game lived up to expectations like it always does.

“It was typical Mooney-Ursuline intensity-wise,” Leslie said. “Both teams played really hard. It was physical with bodies all over the floor. I thought we competed and we played.

“It wasn’t pretty at times but I thought we did a lot of things down the stretch that showed that we are a pretty good basketball team.”

The Cardinals (3-2) hit a lot of big baskets in the fourth quarter to push a 39-38 lead out to eight points at 52-44 with just 59.9 seconds left in the contest.

L.J. Sutton and Tim Marlowe, who finished with 12 points each, both hit clutch baskets down the stretch and the Cardinals knocked in eight of 12 free throws to help open up the lead.

Ursuline (3-2) wasn’t going away easy and made a charge in the final minute.

Junior Dale Peterman hit a three-pointer with 47.7 seconds left to cut the score to 52-47.

After Mooney’s Ronnie Martino hit two free throws George Williams scored for Ursuline with 35 seconds left for a 54-49 margin.

Nick McCartney stole a pass and drilled a basket with 21.3 seconds left to give the Irish faithful a hope.

When Sutton missed two free throws with 17 seconds left, the Irish raced down the floor with no timeouts left and got off a hurried shot by Williams that missed with 0.5 seconds remaining.

“Some of our kids are thinking we’re pretty good and we thought we could step on the floor thinking we don’t have to play the game,” Gunther said. “That’s what happened. “We’re not playing defense and knocking down shots.”

Gunther said that attitude enabled Mooney to get off to a fast start.

The Cards hit nine of their first 13 shots and opened up a 22-9 lead in the first quarter.

“That was like the game last year,” Leslie said. “We had a good game plan and came out and executed and made some shots which gave us confidence.”

Ursuline clawed their way back in behind 14 points from Dominique Cole and 13 from McCartney.

By halftime the Irish had cut the Mooney lead to 36-30.

“Even though we fought our way back in the game we never really pushed ahead and got it going,” Gunther said. “We never played fundamentally good defense all

night.

Gunther said that the loss will be good for his team.

“I have to make a statement each year to my teams,” Gunther said. “I just didn’t think I would have to make it this early in the season.”

Leslie on the other hand sees his team getting better and becoming a good basketball team.

“This game showed me we understand what we need to do to become a good team,” Leslie said. “I think you’ll see us continue to improve.”