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Lowellville’s 9-0 run takes down McDonald
By Steve Wilaj
LOWELLVILLE
When Lowellville coach Vince Nittoli describes Alex Harklerode, he admits it’s tough getting a handle on his senior captain.
“He busts his butt up and down the court. Defensively he’s all over the place — I can’t control him. On offense, I can’t control him, either,” Nittoli said with a laugh.
McDonald knows the feeling.
Behind Harklerode’s 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and seven steals, the Rockets — keyed by a late fourth-quarter run — edged the Blue Devils, 71-68, on Tuesday night. Lowellville senior forward Paolo DePasquale also scored his 1,000th career point in the process.
“We got a little lazy and coach said some things and gave us some energy,” Harklerode said. “Then we just came out and did what we did the whole game. We just had to stay calm.”
Lowellville (9-4, 7-3 ITCL) entered the fourth quarter with a two-point lead. But McDonald (12-4, 8-3) took a 65-62 advantage with 2:36 remaining after five straight points from Brad Woodley, who paced the Blue Devils with 28 points.
Harklerode then hit a 3-pointer to tie the contest, before DePasquale and Tyler Barone each converted a layup. Harklerode then connected on two free throws to cap a 9-0 run and put the Rockets ahead 71-65 with 11 seconds remaining.
“These guys have heart that I can’t explain,” Nittoli said. “They just click. They get so excited and so anxious. Our coaching staff has a hard time of calming them down.”
Speaking of nerves, McDonald committed four turnovers during Lowellville’s final run.
“I don’t think we even got a shot off,” Jeff Rasile said. “Turnovers were a killer. It was just a matter of us falling apart.”
For Lowellville, the victory avenged an earlier loss to the Blue Devils.
McDonald received 24 points from Anthony Pugh. Cole Beatty was the Rockets’ second high-scorer with 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks.
DePasquale added 12 points on his monumental night. He entered the game six points shy of 1,000 and reached the mark on a layup as he was fouled with 4:26 to go in the second quarter.
“I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it if we didn’t come out with the win,” DePasquale said. “It took a lot of hard work. But my teammates and coaches — they deserve as much credit as I do here.”
DePasqule, who added seven rebounds, helped stake the Rockets to a 35-30 halftime lead and eventual 35-26 rebounding advantage. Lowellville also shot 46 percent from the field (30 for 65). McDonald was 26 of 56 from the field.
“It feels good,” Harklerode said. “Everyone did what they were supposed to do. It was a team win. We put in two new press breakers and we played more as a team this time. We played better team defense and, overall, we just played better than they did.”