Poland surges to oust Mooney

By TOM WILLIAMS

williams@vindy.com

boardman

With 999 career points, Poland senior Ben Donlow did not need much inspiration for Saturday’s Division II district final.

He found it looking at the opposing bench.

“I always try to play well ... but I had a little extra energy because it was Mooney,” said Donlow who scored 21 points and made 15 rebounds in Poland’s 75-65 victory over Mooney before a capacity crow at at Boardman High.

The Bulldogs’ win sends them back to the regional at Canton Civic Center for the third time in four seasons. The victory was especially gratifying for Coach Ken Grisdale after dropping the 2009 district final to Streetsboro, a 77-75 heartbreaker.

“Other than Canfield, that was the best test we’ve had all year,” Grisdale said. “Their kids were prepared, they changed things up on us, but our kids found a way.”

Three times, the Bulldogs (22-1) opened up nice leads and seemed poised to pull away. And three times, the Cardinals (19-6) surged late in each of the first three quarters to keep the game close.

But in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals struggled to keep pace with Poland’s high-powered offense.

Donlow, who surpassed 1,000 points with a first-quarter 3-pointer, and Niko Fatimus each hit 3-pointers in the final frame, giving Poland a 63-54 lead.

The Cardinals mounted their final run with Jeff Chahine hitting a trey and Ryan Gallagher making a turnaround jump shot to slice five points off the lead.

But that was as close as Mooney would get as the Bulldogs turned up their offense. Luke Wollet scored a lay-in, Fatimus hit four free throws and Donlow broke free for a slam dunk for a 71-60 lead with 1:04 to go.

“I’m happy,” said Donlow of the huge smile on his face. “This is sweet. We grew after that loss last year. We were really upset and we never wanted to feel like that again.

“It’s never easy,” Donlow said. “Mooney is a great team and they played with a lot of heart.”

Mooney coach Chris Kohl agreed.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys,” Kohl said. “We played the best team in the area and we hung with them through the whole entire game. We were right there.

“I don’t think too many people gave us a chance as a third seed, but we knew we could play with these guys,” Kohl said. “We just came up a little short.”

In the first quarter, Poland led 24-12 when Mooney executed a 10-0 run.

About a minute before halftime, the Bulldogs led 44-35 after a Donlow rebound and basket. But Mooney’s Chuck Gruber and Pat DePizzo made baskets to reduce the deficit to five points.

With 1:15 to go in the third quarter, the Bulldogs led 56-47 after Matt Mrozek’s 3-pointer. Mooney answered with baskets by Chahine, Tom Beck and Danny Reese to reduce the advantage to five.

Chahine scored a game-high 27 points.

“Jeff Chahine had a helluva game, he was phenomenal tonight,” Kohl said. “That was senior leadership. By far and away, he’s worked the hardest for this team to get us where we’re at today.”

Also playing well for Mooney was Ryan Gallagher who scored 10 points and made eight rebounds.

“We kind of challenged him this week,” said Kohl of Gallagher’s task of going up against Donlow and David Baker. “He had to have one of his best games, and he did.”

Kohl credited the Bulldogs for making the right moves late.

“They are a smart basketball team, they knew to pull it out. We didn’t want to foul Niko Fatimus but we didn’t have much of a choice,” Kohl said with a laugh. “That’s what a good basketball team does, they get the ball in the right player’s hands.”

Fatimus scored 19 points and Wollet 13.

“It feels amazing after losing on a last shot last year,” Fatimus said. “To play Mooney, a big rival, to get the win feels awesome.”