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Irish cap emotional week with victory
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
The Ursuline boys basketball team had a very emotional week, praying and worrying about junior cheerleader Lauren Petro, who collapsed during player introductions prior to Tuesday’s home game against Massillon Perry.
Dedicating Friday night’s game at cross-town rival East to Petro was the team’s way of saying they were with her every step along the way as she recovers.
Mark Hughes scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Greg Parella added 15 points and Ursuline led the entire game as the Fighting Irish won their season opener, 56-38 over the Panthers at the East High Gymnasium.
It was also their first win in eight road tries against the Panthers.
“It has been a crazy week so it’s really nice to get our first win of the year, but this win is for Lauren. We were emotionally fueled for this game,” Hughes said. “It’s always tough to play at their place, so winning on their court is special.”
Fighting Irish head coach Keith Gunther, who took to the microphone to lead those in attendance at Tuesday’s game in prayer for Petro’s recovery, had his coaches dressed in a t-shirt with a quote on the back from Isaiah 41:10, hoping to inspire Lauren during her recovery process.
“It’s strength through God when you need an uplifting, and everyone needed some inspiration this past week. It’s been a very emotional week; a very stressful week,” Gunther said. “We didn’t practice on Wednesday and then attended a prayer service for Lauren yesterday at St. Christine Church, so it has been very emotional for everyone; from players, to coaches to school staff.”
The Fighting Irish (1-0) raced to an early 7-0 lead and behind David Collins’ six points, held a 13-6 advantage after the first eight minutes of play.
They increased their margin to 15-6 on two free throws just 48 seconds into the second frame, but four markers by Jawalen Shaw keyed a 12-4 run for the Panthers as they were able to pull to within 19-18 at the intermission.
The Panthers (1-2) held the ball on three separate possessions at the outset of the second half with an opportunity to take the lead, but each time a stingy Ursuline defense was able to hold serve, extending their lead to 33-19 on a conventional three-point play by Parella midway through the period.
“We definitely wanted to win this one for Lauren. She’s not only one of the nicest girls in my class, but one of the nicest girls in the whole school,” Parella said.
“Our goal is to hold opponents to under 40 points a game and 10 points or less in a quarter. We kept pressuring the ball and were able to achieve that goal tonight.”
Gunther, while admitting to first-game jitters, said the defense played well but the offense will need to get on the same page with one another.
“We played well defensively and also rebounded extremely well, however, our offense wasn’t in sync,” he said. “Mark took over in the second half and we were able to get the ball up the floor, but we didn’t shoot well and couldn’t finish our shots underneath the bucket.”
East coach Dennis Simmons also thought his team’s defensive effort was evident.
“When you have just two players on your roster with either junior varsity or varsity experience at our school, it’s pretty safe to say that we’re still a work in progress,” Simmons said. “To hold one of the top scoring teams in the area to just 19 points at halftime shows you what a great defensive effort we had tonight. We’re just struggling right now to hold onto the ball and put it in the hole.”
Neither team shot well from the floor as the Fighting Irish canned just 16 of 53 shots. The Panthers (1-2) were 16 of 53.