Wednesday, December 17, 2014
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
Andrew Armstrong led four Cardinal Mooney players in double figures with 14 points and had 14 rebounds as the Cardinals defeated Steubenville, 57-37, on Tuesday night.
It was a game that featured 50 turnovers (26 by Steubenville) with the Cardinals’ defense setting the tone, holding the Big Red to just two first-quarterb points and just eight in the crucial final quarter.
“We’re just two games into the season so we’re still trying to get into basketball shape and work as a unit,” Armstrong said. “Tonight, we worked hard at both ends of the court and our defense forced a lot of turnovers which created some offensive opportunities.”
Jonny Durkin’s 3-pointer at 6:51 of the opening quarter gave the Cardinals an early 3-0 lead and with D.J. Anderson adding four points off the bench, Cardinal Mooney (2-0) opened a 9-2 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Mooney never trailed in the game.
Trell Thomas, who scored seven of his 13 points in the second quarter, helped Cardinal Mooney open a 23-14 margin at intermission.
“As a team we showed plenty of toughness against a well-coached Steubenville squad,” Mooney coach Brian Danilov said. “Big Red comes to play every time we get together and it’s always a battle; just like tonight.
“December can be an ugly month until everyone gets on the same page. We have just one returning letterman this year in Andrew, but what I like most about this team is the fact that we have good kids who continue to work every day. They’re coachable and that, to me, is a big plus. One area that I feel that we can improve, however, is we need to get a better basketball IQ. That’s an area where we can make the biggest improvement the quickest.”
Buckets by Steubenville’s Charles Reeves (12 rebounds, five blocks) and Dion Wallace-Jones at the outset of the third period cut the Cardinal Mooney lead to 24-18. But seven points by Armstrong and four more by Antonio Bruno keyed a 15-0 run which gave the Cardinals a 39-18 advantage.
Two triples by Lucas Herrington and another from beyond the arc from Jack Marx helped Big Red cut the Cardinal Mooney lead to 45-29 after three quarters.
Bruno then scored four of his 13 points in the final period to seal the victory.
“Turnovers were the key to the game for us and there were entirely too, too many by both teams tonight. I thought each team played excellent defense, however, when you don’t score and do not take advantage of your opportunities then it gets tough when you are forced to play catch-up,” Big Red coach Mike Haney said. “Both teams missed open looks but if we expect to get better, then we need to continue to play solid defense and must look to score in transition.”
The Cardinals were 23 of 51 from the field while Cardinal Mooney’s defense held Steubenville to just 12 of 46 or 26 percent offensively.
Trell Thomas and Bruno with 13 points and D.J. Anderson with 10 were the other Cardinals in double figures on the night.
Herrington led Steubenville with 11 points.