McCartney’s 22 points send Irish to postseason on a roll

Ursuline closed the regular season with a 73-43 victory over Warren JFK.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — Area coaches can breathe a sigh of relief — Ursuline’s Nick McCartney has finally played his final regular-season game with the Irish.

And what a game it was.

McCartney hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 22 points as the Irish (11-9) closed out the regular season with a 73-43 victory over Warren JFK.

McCartney has been a four-year starter for Ursuline and a catalyst from the point guard position for much of the success. He has a chance to become a 1,000 point scorer for Ursuline during the postseason.

“Coaches are always asking me if McCartney is finally graduating,” Ursuline coach Keith Gunther said. “He’s been here for four years and had a great career.

“Nick’s a super kid and a super student.”

McCartney and fellow senior guard George Williams got the Irish off to a big start against the Eagles.

“We wanted to come out here tonight and execute and play like a team,” McCartney said. “We wanted to play well tonight because we are heading into tournament play.

“It was senior night and coaches told [Williams and McCartney] to shoot the ball. The big men understood that’s how we were going to start the game.”

Ursuline hit 9-of-18 shots in the first quarter and opened up a 21-13 lead.

The Irish defense then did a great job the rest of the game.

“We were hoping to have a carryover from the Harding game,” Gunther said. “We played two to three quarters of our best basketball against one of the top teams in the state.

“I wanted to see us carry that over to tonight’s game and we did.”

In addition to McCartney’s great effort, Ursuline played solid in all aspects of the game.

Jamel Turner and Dominique Cole were strong inside scoring 19 and 12 points while grabbing a combined 18 rebounds.

Williams was strong on defense and chipped in with 12 points including four in the first quarter.

Ursuline put the game away by halftime when they outscored JFK 17-9 to post a 38-22 margin at the break. Williams hit two 3-pointers in the period.

Nick Brown had another tremendous game to lead the Eagles (8-11, 2-3).

Brown dropped in 18 points and connected on five 3-point shots. The junior also grabbed six rebounds.