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Mooney rebounds from loss to Ursuline
By Steve ruman
NILES
The tone was set early for Saturday’s non-conference game between Cardinal Mooney and Niles.
After controlling the opening tip, Mooney sophomore Andrew Armstrong drove the lane between a pair of Niles defenders, missed a contested shot, but pulled down a rebound and converted a basket. Moments later, Armstrong found himself at the foul line after again pulling down an offensive rebound, giving the Cardinals a quick 3-0 lead.
The sequence would repeat itself throughout the night, and the result was a Mooney 72-57 road win at Veterans Gymnasium.
Armstrong led Mooney (9-7) with 19 points, but he had plenty of help. Joe Cunningham hit five shots from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points, while Mark Handel and Joey Kleeh finished with 13 and 11, respectively.
Niles (6-11) was led by Marcus Hill, who scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Cameron Kane chipped in with 14 points.
Armstrong also finished with a game-high 15 rebounds. As a team Mooney outrebounded Niles 44-25.
“Our coaches are always preaching the importance of boxing out, of driving hard to the rim, of going after the ball,” Armstrong said. “We just came out hard. We had a little chip on our shoulders after [Friday’s] loss to Ursuline, and we wanted to come out strong and not let up.”
Mooney exited the gate in quick fashion. Behind Armstrong’s seven-point period, the Cardinals led 17-8 after one quarter, and took a 32-18 advantage into the locker room.
Mooney eventually built a 50-30 lead before the Niles offense began hitting its stride. The Red Dragons went on a 19-10 run to cut their deficit to 60-49 midway through the fourth quarter. However, just when the Dragons looked to be gaining momentum, Armstrong answered with a basket off a missed shot which resulted in a three-point play.
Niles would never seriously threaten from that point on.
“We knew that when you come to Niles and play a Ron Price team, you have to play hard and you have to execute for a full four quarters,” said Mooney coach Brian Danilov. “If you don’t play smart and you don’t play with intensity against this Niles team, they will make you pay.
“I thought we did a nice job, especially coming back from the loss to Ursuline. We came out strong and we kept the intensity for most of the night.”
On Friday, Mooney owned a 15-point lead over arch-rival Ursuline, only to fall in overtime.
Armstrong said the loss helped propel the Cardinals on Saturday.
“It was definitely on our mind,” Armstrong said. “When we had a big lead, we knew we couldn’t let another one slip away. We just kept telling each other to play to the buzzer.”