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Mooney moves on
Clutch free throws too much for Hubbard
By Tom Williams
Photo
Hubbard’s Larry Minotti (20) loses control of the ball under pressure from Cardinal Mooney’s Anthony Filo during a Division II sectional semifinal basketball game Monday at Boardman High School. The Cardinals tripped up the Eagles, 46-37.
BOARDMAN
“It was an ugly win, but a win’s a win,” surmised Cardinal Mooney High senior basketball player P.J. Quinn following Monday’s 46-37 victory over Hubbard in the Division II tournament opener at Boardman High. “They are a scrappy team.”
Mooney coach Chris Kohl agreed it wasn’t pretty but added, “But we live to play another day and that’s what is important.
“We persevered, picked it up in the fourth quarter and hit some free throws,” Kohl said after the Cardinals pulled away by making 12 foul shots in the fourth quarter. ”But we definitely have to play better Wednesday night.”
Up next for the Cardinals is top-seeded Struthers (16-4) in a rematch from the past two postseasons. Two years ago, Mooney won; last year, Struthers returned the favor.
Quinn, who led the Cardinals (7-14) with 12 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and six steals, said a six-win regular season was not expected.
“It took us a little while to get into basketball shape,” the quarterback of the Div. III state football champions said. “It took us a little while to get our legs underneath us. Now we’ve settled down.”
Mooney opened up an eight-point lead in the first quarter, but the Eagles (4-17) reduced the margin to two points at halftime.
An 6-0 run to open the second half gave the Cardinals a 20-12 lead, but two 3-pointers by Hubbard senior Nick Shelton gave the Eagles hope going to the fourth quarter trailing 26-21.
“I told them I was proud of them — a 4-16 team could have packed it in,” Hubbard coach Rick Fox said. “But they fought back. They played a hard game.”
In the end, the difference was at the foul line where Hubbard missed 11 times in the second half.
“I told the kids that [game] was our season wrapped up in a nutshell,” Fox said. “Turnovers at the wrong time, missed free throws and we couldn’t capitalize on some of their mistakes — that was our season.”
Cardinal sophomore Joe Cunningham made five of six tries in the final quarter.
“We shoot free throws for at least 20 minutes a day; you find your stroke,” Cunningham said. “When you get to the line, you’ve got to have confidence.”
Shelton led the Eagles with 13 points. Kirby Knutson netted 10 points.
Cunningham credited the Eagles for persistence.
“We didn’t keep on them, we kind of let up a little bit,” Cunningham said. “They kept chipping away.”
Junior Doug Caputo had nine points and seven rebounds.
“We got into trouble because we were slacking,” Caputo said. “People look at us as that losing team. We want to come out here and prove them wrong.
“This was fun, especially because of the tournament atmosphere.”