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Battling birds | Falcons hang on
Photo
Fitch’s Nate Blair (24) looks for room as Mooney’s Doug Caputo closes in under the Mooney basket during Tuesday’s game at Mooney. The Falcons won, 47-46.
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
The Austintown Fitch boys basketball team’s experience with close games in the first 40 percent of the season paid a dividend on Tuesday in the Cardinal Mooney gymnasium.
Although the Falcons’ best players (Will Mahone and Dan Chepke) nursed four fouls for the majority of the fourth quarter, the Falcons wiped out a five-point deficit and limited the Cardinals to seven points in a 47-46 victory.
The game ended with P.J. Quinn’s 3-point attempt hitting the rim and bouncing to Chepke.
“The ball went up and everything freezes for a second in that moment,” Chepke said. “The ball hit the back of the rim and my teammate Nate Blair had an amazing box-out to clear the space for me to go get the ball.
“I wrapped it up like it was my most precious thing — game over,” Chepke said. “I didn’t think the shot was going to make it but on every shot you’ve got to be prepared that it’s going to miss.”
After several close calls, Fitch coach Brian Beany relished the win.
“It’s definitely gratifying — Mooney is always tough at home,” Beany said. “The game was up-and-down like a roller coaster.
“We’ve had so many of these — we’ve had [only] one game where [the margin was] over 10 points,” the Falcons’ first-year head coach said. “I knew that the situation wasn’t going to get to them because they’ve been in these [tight spots] all year long.”
Mahone scored 27 points including three 3-pointers to spark the Falcons (4-5). Chepke scored nine and made six rebounds.
When Mahone took his fourth foul with 44 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Beany kept him out defensively as much as possible for about five minutes.
“I just had to be smart on defense and watch myself on offense, not drawing any charges,” Mahone said. “They were definitely attacking me so I just had to lay off my man and hope that my teammates stepped up and helped me. They did.”
Chepke was assessed his fourth with 6:40 to go, adding to Beany’s lineup dilemma.
“It kind of got scary there,” said Beany about the foul trouble. “I knew we couldn’t do it without them so the time they were going to be on the bench wasn’t going to be very long.
“That’s where some of my kids stepped up when I called them off the bench,” Beany said. “They did a great job coming and just kind of holding [down the] fort.
Doug Caputo led the Cardinals (2-7) with 23 points, seven rebounds and a block.
“Big, strong lefty,” said Beany of Caputo. “He had a great game. They kept giving it to him in the post and we were trying to get him to use his right hand.”
Mooney coach Chris Kohl said his team’s offensive struggles proved costly.
“You can’t go 8-for-18 from the foul line and expect to win [a close] basketball game,” Kohl said. “It was a great game, nip and tuck. And we had our shot to win it.”
The Falcons took a 22-16 lead in the second quarter when the Cardinals posted a 7-2 run. Mahone scored 19 points in the first half as the Falcons led, 24-23.
“We’re the most battle-tested team in the area,” Chepke said. “All but one of our games so far have been [decided in] the last seconds or overtime. So we’re used to it — the atmosphere was real loud but we’re used to it.”
The Cardinals seized control in the third quarter, outscoring the Falcons 16-10. Chepke scored eight of Mooney’s points in that frame for a 39-34 lead.
Three-pointers by Chepke and Jessie Driver in the fourth quarter helped the Falcons rally by outsoring the Falcons 13-7.
“We’re really struggling to score but we played great defense tonight,” Kohl said. “It was a nice contest between [Mahone and Caputo] going back-and-forth.”