Ursuline gets needed win

By Tom Williams

SALEM — After opening the season with five straight wins, the Ursuline High boys basketball team dropped 15 in a row.

Following Monday’s 55-29 win over Rootstown in the Division III tournament at Salem High, the Irish (6-15) are hoping it’s the start of a new streak that will keep them busy in March.

They’ll face a strong test on Wednesday when they play East Palestine (18-2), the Inter Tri-County League Tier One champions.

“They have really good guards and two big guys [Ben Gysin, Braxton Mascher] who are decent,” Ursuline coach Keith Gunther said of the Bulldogs. “We’re going to have to play extremely well.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” Gunther said. “Our kids don’t want it to end and that’s a great thing after you’ve lost 15 straight.”

The East Palestine-Ursuline game at 6:30 p.m. will be followed by Waterloo vs. Crestview. The Rebels (10-11) advanced on Monday by overcoming a 17-4 first-quarter deficit to Canton Central Catholic for a 55-48 victory.

Gunther said a team meeting Sunday reminded his players that their strength is strong defensive play.

“We talked about having faith in a crisis because we’ve been in a crisis for a while now,” Gunther said. ”We talked about having faith in playing the game the right way, which is defense. We showed that tonight.

“Ursuline basketball, in the past, has always been tallied by how we play defensively, and I think we got some of that back tonight,” Gunther said.

Tied 6-6, the Irish posted a 10-0 run to seize control of the game. Dominique Cole and Dakota Trosky each scored two buckets in the run.

“It feels good to get a win,” said Cole who led the Irish with 16 points. “We want to get some of our swagger back and what better time to do it than tournament time?”

Cole said the goal now is to “force opponents to take bad shots. That’s what we did to take them out of the game.”

Gunther said Cole “did a great job of running the team and being patient when he was open.”

The Irish dominated the second quarter for a 28-10 halftime edge.

“We really can’t simulate their speed in practice,” said Rootstown coach Andy Vlajkovich, a Canfield High graduate who was a Boardman assistant for several seasons. “When they commit to guarding you, there’s not a lot some teams can do.”

DeVonte Jenkins scored nine points while Dale Peterman, Trosky and Jordan DuBose each had eight.

“All year, we’ve been forcing a lot of shots and trying to force tempo,” Gunther said. “Tonight, we played a little bit smarter.

“We moved the ball with patience and waited until we got a good look instead of going down and jacking shots,” Gunther said.

Brennan Hartung netted four 3-pointers for 12 points for the Rovers.

In Crestview’s win, Jakob Leon scored 20 points and made 10 rebounds and two steals.

“We were rusty at the start,” said Crestview coach Rick Gates, citing a 17-day layoff. “Once we got in the flow, Cameron Reynolds hit a couple of shots early and Jakob Leon played his good all-around game.”

Gates said the Rebels used traps in the second quarter to change the game.

“It got the momentum going our way,” Gates said.

Reynolds scored 15 points while Adam Coppock had 11. Brandon Gates’ four steals included three in the fourth quarter.

williams@vindy.com