McDonald defense slows W. Reserve

January 18, 2012 at 12:08a.m.

McDONALD

Defense was the key as the McDonald High School boys’ basketball team defeated Western Reserve 41-36 Tuesday night.

It was not an easy win. McDonald (4-5, 3-3 Inter Tri-County Tier Two) led by only a point, 37-36, with 15 seconds remaining on the clock when freshman Anthony Pugh stepped to the free-throw line. Pugh sank two free throws and gave McDonald a three-point lead, 39-36.

After Western Reserve (6-5, 2-4) missed a shot a few seconds later, McDonald junior Tyler Smith connected on two more shots from the charity stripe for the final points of the game.

“We definitely needed that win,” said McDonald coach Brian Higgins. “We’ve lost a few close games.”

Stephen Politano, a junior, scored a game-high 17 points for McDonald, including three long-range 3-pointers.

Austin Bucan, a senior, scored eight points for McDonald, all in the second half. Sophomore Matt Seitz and junior Tyler Smith tallied six points each McDonald.

Western Reserve’s scoring leader was junior Dalton Korda, who connected for 11 points. Senior Jeff Clegg scored eight points.

“We know we’re not as physical as they are,” said Higgins. “But we wanted to at least match their intensity. We knew we were going to have a tough time scoring against them.

“We wanted to make their chances to score difficult, we wanted to get a hand up in the shooter’s face. We knew if we were going to win, we were going to have to shut them down.”

McDonald shut down Western Reserve for most of the first quarter, building a 10-0 lead. Korda sank a field goal for Reserve’s first points with only 50 seconds remaining in the quarter, which ended with McDonald leading 12-2.

But Western Reserve came alive in the second quarter, scoring 21 points and briefly taking the lead, 23-20.

Snyder sank a 3-point shot for McDonald as the first half ended, tying the game 23-23 at halftime.

Both teams made defensive stands in the third quarter, with McDonald outscoring Western Reserve 6-3 to lead 29-26.

Western Reserve briefly took the lead when Snyder sank a 3-pointer, but McDonald re-took the lead when Politano connected for a field goal.

With less than a minute remaining in the game, Snyder stole the ball and drove in for layup that drew Western Reserve within a point, 37-36. But Western Reserve didn’t score again, while Pugh and Smith sank free throws for McDonald.

“We made mistakes at the wrong time,” said Western Reserve coach Tim King. “At the end of the game when you want to do right thing, we did some wrong things.

“Our inability to score points” was the reason for Western Reserve’s loss, King added. “It is what it is.”