McDonald asserts its dominance

By Joe scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

SALINEVILLE

The hype started a month ago, as the Southern High boys basketball team rolled to the best start in school history and McDonald rolled to its best start since ... well, since last year.

A January snowstorm wiped out the teams’ first scheduled meeting at McDonald, so the Blue Devils traveled an hour south on Tuesday night to play one of the biggest games in Southern history.

“We knew there would be a lot of people in the gym and we knew there’d be hype,” McDonald guard Louie Ronghi said. “So we knew we had to come down here and put an end to that.”

Thanks to a career-high 22 from Ronghi — and a typically frenzied performance from the Blue Devils defense — McDonald won its 57th straight regular season game by rolling past the Indians, 81-51, in an Inter Tri-County League Tier Two game.

“What can you say about it?” said Southern coach George Whittaker. “I knew it was going to be tough.

“We have a hard time with that type of pressure.”

After a back-and-forth start, McDonald appeared to take control midway through the second quarter, utilizing a 12-0 run to take a 37-21 lead. But Southern closed the half with a 6-0 run to get back in the game.

“We’ve been struggling at the end of second quarters,” McDonald coach Jeff Rasile said. “But I always tell my kids, the first four minutes of the third quarter determines most games.

“We won the third quarter.”

McDonald (14-0, 10-0) outscored Southern 27-10 in the third quarter, forcing nine turnovers in the process, as the Indians wore down in the face of the Blue Devils’ constant pressure.

“You could tell [they were wearing down],” Ronghi said. “That’s when we go on one of those runs and it just kills them.”

Guard Justin Rota finished with eight of McDonald’s 19 steals and the Blue Devils forced 32 turnovers.

“It seemed like 50,” Whittaker said.

Ronghi, whose older brother Lance was known for his tireless motor, started the year in Rasile’s doghouse but has worked — and hustled — his way out.

“From the first game of the season until now, his hustle has improved 1,000 percent,” Rasile said. “I rode him for four games at the beginning of the year, telling him he wouldn’t play on my team unless he started picking up the pace defensively.

“Now he’s sprinting around and doing everything we’d expect one of McDonald’s basketball players to do.”

Ronghi admitted it took him some time to get used to the expectations, but said he loves playing pressure defense.

“It’s fun,” he said. “There aren’t many rules. You just go crazy.”

Matthias Tayala scored 18 points with eight rebounds, Nick Rota had 16 points and Justin Rota 12 for McDonald, which won 23 straight games last year before falling to Bedford Chanel in the Division IV regional semifinals.

Jake Boyle had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Southern (13-2, 8-2), which started the season 9-0 before falling to Wellsville on Jan. 14. Eric Baker added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“Everything we worked on went out the door as soon as they tipped the ball up,” Whittaker said. “Hopefully next time they’ll learn by this.

“But I told them, ‘It’s just one basketball game.’ We’ve got five left and this one isn’t as important as the next five. There’s no sense ranting and raving about it. We’ve got to get ready for Wellsville.”