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East rallies to down Irish
By brandon judeH
Youngstown
From the opening tip, to the final horn, the Ursuline against East boys basketball game was as exciting as advertised.
Neither team led by more than four points as 10 fourth-quarter free throws by Panthers senior Mike Hornbuckle sealed the 66-62 East victory.
The last quarter was a fantastic display of basketball by both teams, it started off with the Panthers’ Taylor Johnson stealing the ball and slamming it home for his second dunk of the night.
That was just the beginning.
It seemed as if an entire game was played in the final period as both teams continued to exchange big plays, one trying to out smart the other in what turned into a chess match.
With 3:12 remaining and East (14-6) up by three Ursuline’s Ryan Strollo received a pass from Desmond McElroy and nailed it for three.
After a Jalen Lowe tip in that put the Irish (10-10) up by two, Hornbuckle was fouled and went to the free throw line. With the crowd on its feet rooting for him to miss, he hit two clutch free throws to tie the game at 58.
“I wasn’t nervous at all from the line, I’m the best free throw shooter on the team and they want the ball in my hands during clutch moments,” Hornbuckle stated.
Indeed Hornbuckle’s team continued to get him the ball and he continued to deliver, going 10-for-10 from the foul line.
“We attacked the basket hard and got to the line a lot,” Hornbuckle said.
The Panthers solid play did not end at the line, their full-court press and half-court traps helped cause plenty of turnovers.
“We changed up to a 2-1-2 defense to try and keep them more contained, our kids did a great job, but the Irish did a great job at beating our pressure tonight,” East coach Mark Cherol said.
Ursuline coach Keith Gunther attributes his team’s tough loss to turnovers and allowing too many offensive rebounds
“I bet we had about 30 turnovers out there, that’s what killed us. There is no way you are going to win a basketball team against a team that good by turning it over that much.”
Despite the loss, Gunther says there are some positives his team can take from this game heading into the tourney.
“Ralph [Naples] and McElroy have both been playing good, I am really positive in what we can do in the tournament we just need to come back Sunday and work hard.”
The entire game was even both on the court and on paper as the score was tied 29-29 at halftime.
“We feel great going into the tournament, we have a bye so we can wait, practice, work hard and get ready for it,” said Johnson.
Leading the way for East were Hornbuckle with 18 points and Deontay Scott with 13 points and 12 boards.
McElroy scored a game-high 19, Lowe grabbed 11 rebounds and Naples had 14 points.