Ursuline falters in OT to No. 3 Lutheran East

Destiny Sims scored 13 of her team’s final 15 points to beat the Irish, 65-57.

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — The Ursuline High girls basketball team gave No. 3-ranked Lutheran East all it could handle Saturday afternoon.

But in the end, Ursuline was doomed by too many turnovers, missed foul shots and Lutheran East’s talented Destiny Sims, a 5-foot-6 senior guard with outstanding athleticism and all the moves to the hoop.

The versatile and muscular Sims scored 13 of her team’s final 15 points and finished with 32 along with eight steals, as she helped to rally the Division IV Falcons to a 65-57 victory in overtime.

Sims scored Lutheran East’s final four points in regulation to pull her team from behind to a 54-54 tie, and then took charge in overtime by scoring nine of 11 points to clinch the win.

She was supported by Annjelina Robinson, a 5-7 junior guard, with 17 points, while Latisha Walker had 11 rebounds, seven points and five blocks, and Amber Bogard 11 rebounds.

“Sims is tremendous,” said Ursuline (10-6) coach Sean Durkin. “She had 32 but we didn’t do a bad job [guarding] her. She is going to score anyway. We played real hard on her. She was the difference down the stretch.”

Coach Melvin Burke Sr. of Lutheran East (16-1), whose only loss was to Regina, said that he has been coaching Sims for a long time and that she has benefited from weight training.

“We have a very solid weight-training program. Sims is a very experienced senior. I’ve had her since the sixth grade youth program,” said Burke, noting that Sims is being recruited by Cleveland State, Canisius, St. Joseph and California State-Bakersfield.

“She stays cool and calm. She has the same demeanor whether we are up by 20 [points] or down by 20. We play for her to get to the basket well.”

And that’s how Sims scored most of her points — on nifty drives to the hoop, although she also missed a lot of shots earlier in the game.

Ursuline, which was led by Jaleesa Beverly (13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks), Lucia Petrus (10 points) and Victoria Miles (nine), trailed early in the game but used a 17-8 scoring advantage in the second period to take a 33-28 halftime lead.

The Irish led by as many as six points, 50-44, with 5:28 left in regulation, before turnovers took their toll and Lutheran East rallied behind Walker, Bria Eslick, Robinson and then Sims to tie the score at 54-54 on Sims’ basket at 1:30 to force overtime.

“Perseverance helped us. We’re a pretty deep team, 12-man strong,” said Burke. “We used several defenses and gave them different looks. That caused a lot of their turnovers. Their turnovers and Sims turned the game around.”

Durkin said turnovers, missed free throws and Sims’ scoring ruined his team’s chances.

“They are an extremely athletic team and their athletes made a difference in overtime. Turnovers and Sims scoring beat us,” said Durkin. “Our free-throw shooting was bad. If we had made our free throws in regulation, we could have won the game.”

Burke lauded Ursuline’s guards.

“They are smart and quick on offense. Their guards know how to handle the pressure. We had to play a half-court game against them because the are faster than us,” Burke said.

kovach@vindy.com