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Mooney, Liberty hold on for wins
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Mooney Eddie Reese (24) blocks Salem Jordon Strabala (11) at Boardman High School, Wednesday March 4, 2009
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Ravenna's Blayre Davis (1) and D.J. Paulat (52) try to stop Liberty Anthony Cleveland (13) from scoring at Boardman High School, Wednesday March 4, 2009
By John Kovach
BOARDMAN — Almost no one likes a blowout in a basketball game.
But almost everyone likes a rally, a comeback, a close game and a battle down to the wire with the outcome leaning either way.
Those are the kinds of games where fans get their money’s worth, and they happened Wednesday night in a pair of first-round battles of the boys’ Division II sectional tournament at Boardman High.
In the opener, Cardinal Mooney built a 17-point lead over Salem, 39-22, in the third quarter, then had to summon all forces to survive the Quakers’ comeback to within two points (54-52) to pull out a 57-52 win.
And in the nightcap, Liberty was basking in a 36-24 lead after the third quarter, but Ravenna bounced back to within three points (36-33) and forced the Leopards to stage a rally of their own to surge away to 44-35 victory.
Mooney (9-12) advanced to play Lakeview (17-4) in a sectional final Saturday night at 6 in the opener of a doubleheader, while Liberty (9-12) moved on to face Streetsboro in the nightcap at 7:30.
In the waning seconds of the Mooney-Salem game, the Quakers pulled to within 54-52 on Ryan Wolfgang’s driving layup with 35 seconds left, but Donald D’Alesio made a foul shot to push the Cardinals ahead to 55-52.
Then with Salem going for a tying 3-point goal, it blew the chance when a Quaker was called for traveling with 12.7 seconds left.
However, Salem got another chance when Trent Toothman stole a Mooney pass and Salem called timeout at 8.8 seconds to set up the final play.
But Mooney’s John Stoops blocked a last-ditch Salem attempt, was fouled and then hit two free throws to finish off the Quakers.
D’Alesio led Mooney with 12 points while Stoops and Danny Reese added 11 apiece and Chuck Gruber 10 with 12 rebounds. Stoops also had five rebounds and three assists.
“Our fast break helped us to take the lead. We always say: Rebound, outlet, run and finish. When we do that we play well,” said Mooney coach Chris Kohl, noting that “3-point goals got Salem back into the game.”
The Quakers were 7-for-19 from 3-point land. Jordon Strabala hit 17 points, including three treys, to lead Salem while Chris Brown added 10 points, including three 3-point baskets.
Salem (11-10) coach Will Klucinec said Mooney “did a great job pushing the ball down the court.” And, “We had to make sure we rotated guys back to focus on the fast break.”
But, “turnovers did us in at the end in crucial situations.”
In crunch time of the second game, Ravenna opened the final period with nine unanswered points to reduce Liberty’s 12-point lead to three, 36-33, with about three minutes left.
But the Leopards braced and reeled off an 8-2 scoring advantage, including two foul shots each by Dee White and Anthony Cleveland within in the last minute to seal the win.
Cleveland led Liberty with 16 points — six in the final quarter — while White added 10 points— all coming in the final period.
“We did a better job at the foul line when it counted,” said Liberty coach Dan Gorski, referring to White’s and Cleveland’s clinching shots.
“Randall Gillum did a good job on the boards, and Dee White hit key free throws and he also shut down their leading scorer, [Jordon] Jones, on defense in the second half.”
Jones, Anthony Witherspoon and D.J. Paulat had 10 points each for Ravenna (13-8), which was hampered by very poor shooting, including many missed layups.
“We made key mistakes at crucial moments,” said Ravenna coach Phil Starks. “And our shots weren’t falling tonight.”
In fact, “We missed a lot of shots. If we had shot better, even 40 percent, we could have won the game.”
And, “We give them a lot of second shots.”
kovach@vindy.com