Ursuline, Newton Falls to battle

March 3, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Irish, Tigers dominate down the stretch

By Doug chapin

HOWLAND

The second half was the key for both winners Friday night in the Division III boys basketball tournament at Howland High.

Second-seeded Newton Falls turned a 28-22 halftime lead into a 51-30 advantage as Cody Dillon poured in 16 points in the third quarter. The Tigers went on to a 66-39 triumph over Middlefield Cardinal (8-13).

Fourth-seeded Ursuline led Liberty 31-26 at halftime and 48-42 after three quarters before putting together a 10-3 run in the first three minutes of the final period. The Irish went on to a 69-56 triumph over the sixth-seeded Leopards.

Tuesday at 7 p.m., Ursuline (12-10) and Newton Falls (19-3) will play in a district semifinal game.

“The difference was we made some shots and we took their key guy [Jalen Mann] out of the game,” Ursuline coach Keith Gunther said. “We knew they went as Jalen went. Overall, with our 3-2 matchup zone, any time he penetrated we tried to collapse on him.

“I thought we did a heck of a job rebounding the basketball. We gave them one shot and transition-wise I thought we got some easy buckets and some fouls. It was just a great team effort, especially defensively.”

The Irish held Mann, who averaged more than 20 points per game during the season, to 14 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. Asim Pleas added 12 points and five assists for Liberty (11-11) and John Helms had nine points.

“We didn’t execute offensively very well at all. We still got some decent looks but we didn’t shoot a very high percentage either,” Liberty coach Dan Bubon said. “At the beginning of the fourth quarter, it didn’t seem like we got a good shot forever.”

Ryan Strollo paced Ursuline with 27 points to go with six rebounds, and Desmond McElroy scored 20 points. Ralph Naples had 11 points and four assists, Kevin Jackson grabbed 10 rebounds and Jalen Lowe contributed seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

“Early on, McElroy got to the line and got us going, Jackson was clearing the boards, I thought he was unbelievable, and Naples,” Gunther said. “When Naples sat. I was a little worried because when he’s not in we get turnover-prone and that happened in the first half. He came out in the second half, ran a great floor game and got to the basket, got some free throws.”

In the Tigers’ win, Dillon finished with 26 points to go with five rebounds. Dale Kernen added 10 points and eight rebounds.

“I did not like the first half tonight. I did not like our focus, our attention to detail,” Tiger coach Roy Sembach said. “We didn’t move enough offensively and consequently, because we didn’t move, we shot 1-of-11 on 3s in the first half. “In the second half we had much more energy. Cody came out and hit a few big shots in a row and that pretty much sent us on our way and we were more energized after that. He is capable of that, he can explode. He’s the type of guy who can have two points, four points, and then boom, he’ll get you 16 in a quarter.”