Ursuline rally falls short against Sharon
Ursuline rallies late,
but can’t catch Tigers
By Steve wilaj
SHARON, PA.
Following Ursuline’s 62-53 loss at Sharon on Wednesday night that dropped the Fighting Irish to 0-6, coach Keith Gunther is faced with two daunting challenges.
First, how can Ursuline finally capture a victory? And second — although, according to Gunther, equally important — how does he keep the overall season in perspective for his team?
“My biggest fear for our kids is allowing them to lose focus on what’s really important,” Gunther said. “We don’t play in a league, so it’s my job to keep them focused and keep them positive and get them to understand that it’s all about improving and getting better for one reason: to win the Division III district tournament.
“I sent them a little letter [Wednesday] about staying focused, staying positive and to just keep playing hard. But I was disappointed at how we played at the beginning of the game.”
Playing on back-to-back nights, Ursuline came out sluggish and sloppy. Meanwhile, an energized Sharon team jumped out to a 14-4 lead after the first quarter.
The Tigers’ lead grew as large as 20-6 in the first half while they eventually took a 44-29 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“We have 10 guys who can play, maybe even more,” Sharon coach Jason Rankin said. “We just get caught every now and then trying to do too much individually.”
Falling victim to their bad habits, the Tigers watched their fourth-quarter lead diminish to three points as a result of numerous turnovers. Ursuline ysed a 17-5 run to cut the deficit to 49-46 on a Ryan Strollo jumper with 2:51 remaining.
“We battled back and showed some toughness,” Gunther said. “It was a tale of two halves. They pressured us the first half and we turned it over. So we came out the second half and got after them and they turned it over.”
Still, Sharon was able to hold on. The Tigers pushed the lead to 53-46 on consecutive buckets by Khalil Hopson, who led the team with 19 points. However, Rankin was not pleased with his team’s fourth-quarter performance.
“Give them credit for playing hard, but we were just stupid with the ball,” said Rankin, whose team finished with 21 turnovers. “Ursuline gave it everything they had, but I think they got a little tired. They made a couple mistakes when it got close and we took advantage.”
The Irish comeback was led by Strollo, who finished with 23 points. Desmond McElroy scored 14.
And while Ursuline came up empty for another night, Gunther said his team is heading in the right direction.
“Usually, I’d be flipping out by now, getting the kids up at 5 a.m. and running them,” he said. “But I really see a positive to these kids. We just have to keep getting better and staying positive. If we do that — I think by March — watch out.”