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Thomas scores 18 as Mooney tops Brookfield
By Dan Hiner
Youngstown
Cardinal Mooney’s defense showed up early in its game with Brookfield on Friday night.
The Cardinals’ full-court press threw the Warriors’ offense out of rhythm long enough for Mooney come away with a 49-39 win.
Mooney (2-0) capitalized on several miscues and its offense was able to get off to a hot start to begin the game. The Cardinals began the game on an 8-0 run, with five of those points coming from Trell Thomas. Mooney took a 15-4 lead into the second quarter.
But Brookfield (2-3) was able to get its shots to fall in the second quarter. Mooney started to turn the ball over. Tipped passes and contested shots got the Warriors in fast-break opportunities. Brookfield started getting second chance shots and was able to cut the deficit to four, 20-16, heading into halftime.
“When we saw them play last week, one of the things that they did was they pushed the ball and I think they scored around 73 points — they controlled the tempo,” Brookfield head coach Bill Kovach said. “We had to control the tempo or at least slow the game down a little bit. They play eight or nine guys, so I thought we did an excellent job at playing our game. Even though, I’d say, it took us a quarter-and-a-half to get into it.”
The Warriors continued to fight in the second half and tied the game at 32 early in the fourth quarter, but Mooney pulled away again after hitting several shots in the final minutes.
“We were fortunate — we got out on some transition baskets and got up on them, but then we had some breakdowns that let them get back in the game,” Mooney head coach Brian Danilov said.
“Brookfield’s very well-coached — they got tough kids. I’ve been playing Brookfield for many years and you gotta come ready to play when you play them. They’re always well coached and they’re always tough kids.”
Thomas led the Cardinals with 18 points. Pat Pelini added 10 points. After the game Thomas said he had an “off-night.” He felt he should have played better.
“I was forcing stuff and rushing shots. I was forcing a lot and not moving the ball around, getting into the rotation,” Thomas said.
Brookfield’s Marc Kraml scored a game-high 19 points. The Warriors were able to dominate on the glass due to Brian Hiner, who had 11 points to go along with his seven rebounds.
Thomas said Mooney’s goal is to be 4-0 at Christmas. Danilov said the team has made progress early this season after the hard work the players have put in over the summer and he’s “fortunate to have a group of kids that have worked really hard.”
He also noticed the Cardinals need to improve on the boards and said the team will need to continue to play tough as the year progresses.
“We have to sustain our box-out,” Danilov said. “We can’t give multiple shot opportunities to any team — especially a tough team like Brookfield that’ll compete like that. We don’t have any cupcakes on our schedule. We have to have to put together four quarters of toughness and smarts.”