East outlasts Ursuline down stretch, 52-49

Trumane Jenkins and Justin Brown each sank two clutch free to lift the Panthers to their fifth win.

By JOHN KOVACH

VindicaTOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN —The East High and Ursuline basketball teams played a high quality game full of speed, aggressiveness, strategy and determination Friday night at the Panthers’ gym.

The nip-and-tuck battle in a growing rivalry between two Youngstown schools in close proximity to each other could have gone either way in the waning seconds.

But East got the four foul shots that it needed from Trumane Jenkins and Justin Brown, while Ursuline failed to get the 3-point goal it required from Ryan Strollo near the buzzer to tie the game and create overtime.

The result: East 52, Ursuline 49, but Irish coach Keith Gunther was not that unhappy.

SDLqWe got the play we wanted. We got the look we wanted,” said Gunther of Strollo’s 3-point attempt with about one second left.

The shot was a little short and the ball got stuck between the hoop and backboard and lodged there with sixth-tenths of seconds on the clock.

Gunther wanted the ball in Strollo’s hands because the sharpshooter made two 3-point goals earlier in the game from almost the same spot.

But in his final attempt, he was moving backward to get an open shot and was hard-pressed by defenders.

“We took the ball out (with 4.7 seconds left) and got the three passes we needed to get the final shot that we wanted. We got two passes and the third pass was to Strollo,” said Gunther.

Jenkins and Brown were tough in the clutch for East, and delivered the victory.

With Ursuline leading, 49-48, on Dakota Trosky’s two foul shots, and taking the ball out with 24.2 seconds left, Jenkins stole the ball, was fouled, and sank both foul shots to push East ahead, 50-49, with 12.7 seconds left.

Then Khiree Gregory missed a shot for Ursuline and Brown got the rebound, was fouled and made both attempts with 4.7 seconds to push the Panthers further ahead, 52-49.

Coach Mark Cherol of East (5-4) said his team improved as the game went on.

“We played hard but not smart at times. We didn’t play that well in the first half but we played better later in the game,” said Cherol, who lauded Jenkins and Brown.

“Jenkins is a competitor. He is the type of player that you want with the ball at crunch time. He wants the ball in his hand at crunch time. He plays hard and tenacious defense,” said Cherol.

The coach said Brown was in a comeback game.

“Brown was out two weeks. This is his first game back. He played rather raggedly out there but he was strong at times. This game will be a big booster for him,” said Cherol.

Jenkins finished with 17 points and four steals and Brown with 14 points and five rebounds to lead East, while Norman Johnson had nine rebounds, four points, four assists and one block.

But the Panthers shot poorly from the field, going 17-for-72, including 0-for-17 from 3-point range.

Gregory led Ursuline with 15 points and four assists while Devonte Jenkins added 11 points plus 14 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Ursuline shot much better from the field with 20-for-44, including 4-for-11 from 3-point land.

kovach@vindy.com