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— High School Basketball — FINISHING STRONG
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Mooney’s Brie Ozenghar is fouled by Fitch’s Sarah Melfe during the first half of Monday’s game at Cardinal Mooney High School.
By Jim Flick
YOUNGSTOWN
The Cardinal Mooney High girls basketball team stormed off to a fast start against Austintown Fitch Monday night and finished the game strong, romping to a 58-43 victory.
“The girls came out with a lot of enthusiasm, made good shots, ran the offense well, and played excellent defense,” said Mooney coach Bill Ritter. “We were able to hold their top two scorers pretty much in check all night.
“I’m proud of the entire effort. It was a great team victory.”
Mooney (11-7) took an early 8-0 lead, with junior Brie Ozenghar scoring the first four points.
The Cardinals led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the Falcons toughened up in the second quarter, coming to within a point of Mooney’s total for the second stanza, 13-12. Mooney led 27-20 at halftime, with both Ozenghar and junior Macy Marlowe tallying eight points in the first half.
Fitch’s Anissa Hill, a senior, scored seven points for Fitch in the first half.
The scoring was close again in the third quarter, with Mooney holding a 10-9 edge to lead 37-29 after three quarters.
Mooney senior Katrina Larson started the fourth quarter by scoring two field goals. Then Ozenghar added two more to complete an 8-0 run that gave the Cardinals a 45-29 lead.
Mooney outscored Fitch 21-14 in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals sank nine free throws in the game’s final stanza.
“As a team, we came out for the start of the game focused,” said Marlowe, who scored 14 points. “We came out ready, determined. As a team, we played great.”
“We haven’t been playing our best, but we really brought it out tonight,” said Ozenghar, who also tallied 14 points. “We used all our enthusiasm and played well as a team, and worked to each others’ strengths.”
Jamie DiDomenico, a sophomore, pumped in 13 points for Mooney, while senior Larson contributed eight points.
Fitch was led by sophomore Megan Sefcik, who was the game’s leading scorer with 17 points.
Hill totaled nine points for the game, while sophomore Cassie Custer added eight points for the Falcons.
“Mooney shot the lights out,” said Fitch coach Stacie Cepin. “They’re always a good-shooting team. They played tough and I thought we played hard, but we made mistakes.
“We started off bad, falling behind 8-0, and we weren’t hitting big shots when we needed them.
“We’re in a rut right now,” Cepin added.
“I wish I could tell you the formula,” said Ritter. “But as bad as we played in our last game was as good as we played this game. I think Fitch caught us on a good night and we caught them on a bad night.”