Blue Devils come up short

By TOM WILLIAMS

williams@vindy.com

CANTON

Having weathered an early eight-point deficit, the last thing McDonald High basketball coach Jeff Rasile wanted his undefeated team to face was another huge disadvantage.

Shadyside had other ideas.

The Tigers seized control of Tuesday’s Division IV regional semifinal with a 10-0 run to start the second half and went on to a 65-49 victory at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Tigers’ (25-0) quick start gave them a 38-25 lead and they maintained the double-digit lead the rest of the way.

“We thought our advantage [would be] our grit, our toughness maybe,” Rasile said. “They [haven’t] seen our style of play very often.

“We had some spurts on them, but they handled it pretty well,” Rasile said. “They are a very good basketball team.”

McDonald has two losses in two years.

“When you look at our team, we’re not the most talented group of basketball players. We worked our tails off,” Rasile said. “They were 45-2 in two years and they got a district championship.

“We need to work on the finer things in basketball to become a better program. I couldn’t be any more proud of the kids,” Rasile said. “The seniors — Zach [Puntel], Nic [Accordino] and Devin [Bansberg] — are leaders and showed it with their mentality.

It’s just that they took it too us tonight. We just couldn’t grit this one out.”

Shadyside also began the game on fire, jumping out to an 11-3 lead as Justin Andres made two 3-pointers and Nick Shuetz one.

The Blue Devils, champions of the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two, stormed back by the end of the quarter, slicing the lead to 17-16 after Puntel hit a 3 and Bansberg made a pair.

Rasile wasn’t surprised at how well the Tigers shot from outside.

“I was surprised by the fact that my kids thought they could match the 3s. That’s not our game,” Rasile said. “They came out on fire in the first half and the second half.

“Give them credit — they beat us in every phase of the game tonight — shooting, passing, ballhandling, defense, [everything] across the board,” Rasile said.

The seesaw second quarter ended with the Tigers ahead, 28-25.

Shadyside coach Ed Andes advised his players they needed to work harder to find open teammates.

“When they miss a shot, they press you, they are on you like glue,” Andes said of McDonald (23-1). “They play extremely hard from end to end, and that’s how they win. When there is a loose ball, there are three guys diving for it.

“I told them at halftime that when they trap you, somebody is free somewhere,” Ed Andes said. “Find that open guy and attack them.”

Shadyside outscored the Blue Devils 17-10 in the third quarter.

“Three times in the second half, we had opportunities and we were taking 20-footers — that’s not what we do,” Rasile said. “We tried to calm the kids down but they’re kids.

“We came out flat in the second half. We had opportunities but we didn’t do the things we do well [like] attacking the rim,” Rasile said. “We decided to shoot jump shots. We didn’t get on the offensive boards until it was too late.”

Junior Matthias Tayala led McDonald with 23 points, 14 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

Accordino made four baskets for 10 points while Bansberg hit three 3-pointers for nine.

The Tigers were led by Justin Andes with 19 points, Schuetz with 14 and Dylan Kimble with 12.

Friday at 7:30 p.m., Shadyside will play Bedford St. Peter Chanel for a trip to Columbus.

Addressing a rumor that he might not return next season, Rasile said he hasn’t made a decision yet, but he’s leaning toward returning. Family reasons are a concern for Rasile and his assistants who he said all have young children.