Monster run rallies Ursuline past Mooney

February 11, 2012 at 12:09a.m.

By BRANDON JUDEH

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mooney and Ursuline boys basketball teams proved many things Friday night.

Maybe the most important of all was that this rivalry isn’t just for the gridiron.

The crowd was loud and electric from start to finish in Ursuline’s 47-36 come-from-behind victory, which was highlighted by a 19-0 run that stretched two halves and lasted more than nine minutes.

“We gave up a lot of points in the first quarter for a defensive minded team,” Ursuline head coach Keith Gunther said. “I had a nice chat with my guys and we turned things around defensively, which created offense for us.”

The turnaround defensively for the Irish (10-6) led to an 8-0 run to end the first half and narrow the Cardinals lead to 24-22.

Ursuline only allowed Mooney (3-12) to score five points in the second quarter, but it was the third quarter that was most impressive.

The Irish scored the first 11 points of the second half and held the Cardinals to a meager two points, which came with 51 seconds left in the quarter.

A big factor in Ursuline’s scoring run was their two big men: 6-foot-4 Kevin Jackson and 6-10 Jalen Lowe.

Lowe was held scoreless and Jackson only scored four points, but it was their effort on the glass and defensively that helped spark their teammates.

“We focus a lot on rebounding in practice and my job as a role player is to grab rebounds,” Jackson said.

Jackson had a game-high 13 rebounds while teammates Ralph Naples, Ryan Strollo and Desmond McElroy carried the offensive load by combining for 45 of the Irish’s 49 points.

Mooney would not go quietly. The Cardinals cut the lead to five points in the third quarter thanks to two monster dunks by junior Doug Caputo, who scored 13 points. One was a dunk over Lowe.

But a feisty Irish defense would not allow the Cardinals to get any closer as they pulled away by hitting 16-18 free throws.

Things started out roughly for the Irish as just three minutes into the game Lowe got called for a foul underneath the hoop. After arguing with the referee, he was called for a technical foul.

“That technical really hurt, I was frustrated, but the coaches took me out for a few minutes and talked to me and told me to calm down and clear my head and it worked,” Lowe said.

That foul sparked Mooney to jump out to a 19-10 lead, but after that the Irish never looked back.