Inspired Lowellville routs McDonald

February 9, 2010 at 12:10a.m.

Taylor Hvisdak tied a career high with 25 points to lead the Rockets to the 81-37 win.

McDONALD — With one minute left in the first quarter and his team on its way to a 24-2 deficit, McDonald High girls basketball coach Rob Hilbun shook his head, looked down at the floor and said “Wow.”

Over the next few minutes, he also yelled “Get back!” several times, spent much of a timeout staring at his players with his palms — and his eyebrows — upraised and shouted “Geez!” and “C’mon!” whenever something went wrong.

“Wasn’t a good one,” Hilbun said with a weak smile and a shrug after his Blue Devils lost to visiting Lowellville 81-37 on Monday. “They were clicking on all cylinders tonight.”

The Rockets’ inspired performance came in response to an uninspired win over Leetonia last Thursday, a game Lowellville coach Tony Matisi said they were fortunate to win. So, Matisi spent the weekend getting “refocused” and making his players “use their basketball brains.”

“Sometimes you can’t play with emotion,” said Matisi, whose said the letdown was due in part to the Rockets’ huge victory over Western Reserve the previous Monday. “I understand that. But the one thing that should be a constant is your effort and your hustle.

“We worked on that over the weekend, just getting them back to the basics.”

The strategy worked as Lowellville was sharp on both ends, using its full-court pressure to force turnovers, then immediately looking upcourt for easy layups. McDonald senior standout Joh’Vonnie Mosley picked up two early fouls, the Rockets took an 11-0 lead and never looked back.

“When our team is pumped up, you know when we’re ready to play,” said Lowellville guard Taylor Hvisdak, who tied a career high with 25 points. “We go out there and give it our all.

“So when we went up, I knew we were ready for the game.”

Ashley Moore and Jamie Hynes each added 17 points for Lowellville (16-3, 12-1), which can clinch a share of the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two crown with a win over Sebring on Wednesday.

McDonald (12-5, 10-3) is out of the league race, but could give the Rockets an outright title if it beats Western Reserve on Wednesday. A win in that game could help erase Monday’s bad taste and give McDonald some momentum heading into the district tournament. McDonald is the No. 2 seed behind the Rockets.

“We could end up playing them again,” said Hilbun. “We’re using that as motivation.

“We know we can play better than this.”

Mosley scored 15 points to pass the 1,500-point milestone for her career. The four-year starter now has 1,502 points, one of three Blue Devils to reach that mark. The others are Ashleigh Tondo (1,676 points) and Jackie Hannon (1,646).

“She’s been a fabulous player,” said Hilbun. “ I was very happy to coach her for four years.”

scalzo@vindy.com