East rallies to avenge defeat to Ursuline

February 19, 2011 at 12:08a.m.

By Greg gulas

YOUNGSTOWN

Mike Hornbuckle’s lay-up with 24 seconds remaining on Friday lifted the East High basketball team to a 50-49 victory over Ursuline at the Panthers’ gymnasium.

Ironically, the winning bucket came on a play that wasn’t even designed for Hornbuckle.

“We were in possession of the ball so Coach [Mark] Cherol called a time out to make sure we knew what play to run,” Hornbuckle said. “He told us to be aggressive with the ball and if anyone saw an opening, just take it strong to the hoop.

“I saw the opening, drove around my defender to the rim and let go with a soft touch, just hoping that it would fall,” Hornbuckle said. “This was a big win for us because they beat us by 15 points at their place about a month ago.

“We wanted to redeem ourselves and even after falling behind at the outset, we never gave up,” Hornbuckle said.

Cherol said, “Mike did an excellent job of taking the ball to the hoop when he saw an opening. This is a signature win for our program because we beat an excellent Ursuline team.”

Ursuline’s Ryan Strollo hit two triples to key a 12-0 run to start the game, but the Panthers clawed their way back with an 11-5 run to pull to within 16-11.

Khiree Gregory scored five of his 12 points in the second quarter, all from the free throw line as Ursuline opened a 27-21 lead.

At halftime, Cherol wanted his team to know that despite their slow start they were still very much within striking distance.

“We came out slow and it’s usually a spurt like that which proves costly for us over the course of a game,” Cherol said. “When we switched from a zone defense to man-to-man, that really helped us get back into the game.

Antonio Woods’ seven points keyed an 11-3 run by the Panthers after the intermission as East (6-11) knotted the score at 30-all.

After four ties and three lead changes in the final two minutes and 47 seconds, the score remained tied, 35-all heading to the final quarter.

A bucket by Jamir Humphrey at 5:44 of the final stanza keyed an 18-7 run as East forged a 41-35 advantage.

Ursuline (11-6) then went on a 10-0 run for a 45-41 lead. When Strollo canned two free throws at the one-minute mark, the Irish took a 49-48 lead.

“We let up after building a 12-0 lead to start the game and then panicked against their pressure,” Ursuline coach Keith Gunther said. “Give East credit — they out-toughed us, outhustled us and outplayed us tonight. This is an awful loss for us and a great win for them heading to tournament play.”

The Panthers have now won four of their last five outings while the loss snapped Ursuline’s two-game win streak.

“In most games, defense is a key and that was the difference for us tonight; especially at the end of the game,” Hornbuckle said.

The Irish were 15 of 21 from the free throw line while the Panthers connected on 10 of 18 from the charity stripe.