Devils tested, but get victory

McDonald's win sets up a big game against Western Reserve on Friday.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
LOWELLVILLE -- The unbeaten McDonald High basketball team expected a war Tuesday night against Lowellville and the Blue Devils got everything they expected.
McDonald (14-0, 10-0 Inter Tri-County League Tier Two) is ranked No. 6 in Division IV of the Associated Press poll and had to fight off a gallant effort by the Rockets before pulling out a 62-56 victory.
The victory sets up a big ITCL Tier Two contest Friday when McDonald hosts Western Reserve (13-1, 8-1). The Blue Devils defeated Leetonia, 63-44.
The Blue Devils made six clutch free throws over the final 50 seconds, four of them by Steven Hughes, to hold off the Rockets (3-10, 1-8).
Back and forth
Hughes, who had missed the front end of a one-on-one situation twice earlier in the final quarter, sank a pair of free throws with 46.9 seconds.
But Lowellville's John Wilaj hit a 3-point goal with 36.8 seconds to narrow the lead to two points, 58-56.
Hughes then canned two more free throws with 35.6 seconds left and Bradley Hinton added another pair with 20 seconds left to clinch the victory.
The victory offset an outstanding night by Lowellville's Mario Nero, who had a game-high 28 points, seven in the final quarter.
"We knew we would be in a war here tonight," McDonald head coach Jeff Rasile said. "Everybody who comes down here faces a war.
"We had so many opportunities to blow the game open, but we had several two or three minute stretches where we just seemed to go to sleep," Rasile said.
"Nero is just something else. We had our best guys guarding him, but he shot over and around them all night," Rasile said.
Good effort
Lowellville head coach Mike Mangine was disappointed with the loss, but praised the effort from his team.
"We've been in every ballgame, but we just can't find a way to finish them," Mangine said.
The Blue Devils made things even more interesting when they lost starter Andy Timko to fouls with 5:15 remaining.
"We knew Andy had four fouls, but the way the game was going we needed him in there," Rasile said.
McDonald started out quickly taking advantage of Lowellville's early mistakes and poor shooting, and reeled off nine straight points to jump out to an 11-2 lead.
But Nero canned back-to-back 3-point shots to bring the Rockets back in the game 11-7 before McDonald pulled to a 19-7 first quarter lead.
With McDonald leading 22-9 early in the second quarter, Nero again connected on two straight 3-point shots. The Rockets battled back into the game 24-18, but could get no closer before halftime as the Blue Devils led 32-28 at intermission.
Not enough
A pair of regular three-point plays, first by Jeremy Gruber and then by Zach Matisi, pulled the Rockets to within four points 38-34, but Bradley and Scott Sentner kept the Blue Devils on top 49-43 after three quarters.
Nero scored five quick points to open the final quarter, two of them on an acrobatic drive down the lane that also drew a foul, but Bradley, who scored seven of his team-high 21 points in the quarter, kept McDonald on top.
The Rockets pulled to within three points 56-53 with 2:46 remaining, but neither team scored again until the final minute when the Blue Devils canned their six free throws to put the game away.
McDonald also had three others in double figures with Hughes and Timko getting 14 each and Sentner adding 12. With 12, Jeremy Gruber was the only other Rocket in double figures.
mollica@vindy.com