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McDonald pulls away to topple Lowellville
By Jim Flick
McDONALD
The Lowellville High School boys’ basketball team dominated the first quarter on Friday, but the McDonald squad controlled the rest of the game to earn a 60-46 victory.
Lowellville’s Mike Mangine connected on a 3-pointer for the first points of the game. The Rockets led 14-6 after the first quarter, connecting on five of eight shots from the field and cashing in on all three free throw tosses.
Meanwhile, McDonald sank only three of 13 shots from the field in the first stanza.
“We came out slow,” said McDonald coach Jeff Rasile.
“But after the first quarter, we got all over the offensive boards. That changed the game. And we started to hit open shots.”
The game turned around in the second quarter, when the Blue Devils outscored the Rockets 15-9.
McDonald (8-0, 4-0 Inter Tri-County League Tier Two) scored six consecutive points to draw closer, and Stephen Politano shot a 3-pointer to pull the Blue Devils within a point, 22-21, with only a minute remaining in the first half. After the Rockets’ Anthony Alfano sank a free throw, Lowellville (5-3, 1-2) led 23-21 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Blue Devils tied the score 23-23 when Nick Rota sank a pair of free throws.
The teams traded the lead until Louie Ronghi hit a 3-pointer to give McDonald a 31-28 lead.
Then the Blue Devils went to work. They outscored the Rockets 22-8 in the third quarter to take a 43-31 lead into the game’s final stanza. McDonald outscored Lowellville 17-15 in the fourth quarter.
Matthias Tayala led McDonald with 16 points. Ronghi sank four 3-pointers as he scored 14 points. Rota tallied 12 points for the Blue Devils, while Stephen Politano added 11 points.
Mangine was Lowellville’s leading scorer with 14 points, while Carmen Donofrio and Dean Donatelli each added seven points.
“Lowellville coach Mike Mangine said defensive pressure by the Blue Devils was one big reason the game turned around. “Their press wore us down. They’re tough.”
The Blue Devils have a deeper, taller, bench, Mangine added.
“I think we could have had more intensity,” the Lowellville coach said. “We should have been tougher on their shooters.”
“They always play us tough,” Rasile said. “We’re more athletic. “We want to push the ball.”
The McDonald coach added that one reason for the Blue Devils’ slow first quarter was that Tayala was slightly injured on the game’s opening jump ball. He never left the game, and quickly recovered to become the game’s leading scorer.