2nd half surge helps lift Mooney

By Greg Gulas

YOUNGSTOWN — For the better part of a half, the Cardinal Mooney High boys basketball team didn’t look like a team that had won six of its first seven outings, including four in a row.

Fitch, on the other hand, looked like anything but a team with just one victory and a six-game losing streak.

Trailing by a bucket after the first quarter and holding a slim, 24-18 advantage at halftime, Cardinal Mooney used an 18-1 run to start the second half to defeat the Falcons, 65-38 Tuesday at the Cardinals’ gymnasium.

John Stoops and Danny Reese each had a team-high 12 points to pace the Cardinals (7-1) while the Mooney defense held the Falcons’ offense to just four buckets in the first half and 10 overall.

“Coach [Chris Kohl] wasn’t too happy with our shot selection in the first half and he let us know about it at halftime,” Reese said. “We were much more patient in the second half while our defense took it personally, applying extra pressure in the final half as well.

“Add a student section that always seems to motivate you with their energy and we were able to pull away in the second half.”

The Falcons raced out to the early 8-4 advantage midway through the first quarter, but the Cardinals scored four of the last six points of the period to cut the Fitch (1-10) lead to 10-8 at the quarter.

A Shane Stevens bucket just 32 seconds into the second stanza gave the Falcons a 12-8 lead, but an 8-0 run by the Cardinals gave them a 16-12 advantage and a lead they would not relinquish.

Stoops, who had four points at halftime, knew that it would take a team effort to hold off the Falcons.

“Anyone, on any given night is capable of stepping up their game and carrying us,” Stoops said. “Being patient in the second half, applying pressure defensively and executing offensively were the keys to tonight’s victory.”

An 18-1 run at the outset of the second half, keyed by Stoops’ six points, helped the Cardinals build a 42-19 margin.

“We might have come out a little complacent but credit Fitch because they were ready to play, keeping the game manageable in the first half,” Kohl said. “It wasn’t that we weren’t going to let them shoot, we just needed to contest their shots.

“John [Stoops] is at a level physically where he can go inside, stay outside, is strong on the boards and has a nice touch from three-point range. Danny [Reese] just keeps getting better each and every game. He controls the tempo, runs our offense and I expect both players to be a big factor down the stretch and into tournament play.”

Reese added five of his points in the final period to help the Cardinals secure their fifth straight win.

“This was by far and away our best defensive half and overall effort at both ends of the court this season,” Fitch coach Jason Baker. “We’re a young, inexperienced team but that’s no excuse ast this point of the season.

“We did a lot of good things tonight, against a good overall team and we’ll build on that.”

Stevens and Johwuan Pete each finished with a team-high eight points for Fitch.