Everyone contributes as Mooney wins big over YCS

February 11, 2015 at 12:06a.m.

By Steve WILAJ

YOUNGSTOWN

Cardinal Mooney’s starters sat comfortably on the bench as they watched their reserves build on an already commanding lead late in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night,

Suddenly, they realized 11 of Mooney’s 12 active players had reached the scoring column. The lone Cardinal not to score was starting guard Nick Koken.

“Yeah, but I only took one shot,” he said as his teammates playfully cracked their jokes.

Koken surely didn’t mind though, as the Cardinals rolled Youngstown Christian, 72-30, in a total team effort. Antonio Bruno led the 11 Cardinals scorers with 16 points, while Mike Williams added 13 bench points and Thomas Trell scored nine.

“It just shows how unselfish we are as a team,” Bruno said. “We just move the ball around and whoever’s open gets the shots.”

In all, Cardinal Mooney (10-6) knocked down 56 percent of its shots by going 29 of 52 from the field.

Head coach Brian Danilov said his inexperienced team — which returned only one rotation player from last season (starting forward Andrew Armstrong, who is currently sidelined) — took another step forward against the Eagles.

“I’m fortunate. I have great kids that share the ball and that are unselfish,” Danilov said. “We’re starting to understand the game a little better. We’re missing Armstrong, so for the other guys, it’s been a constant learning experience. Our basketball IQ area is where we have the most room to grow.”

The Cardinals jumped out to a 12-0 lead after the first five minutes and led 23-4 after the first quarter. Mooney then took a 41-14 advantage into the break as it forced 12 first-half Youngstown Christian turnovers.

“Our defense was the reason for the hot start,” Bruno said. “We pressured really well and got steals and that’s what led to easy buckets. Our trap was on — we work on that a lot in practice — and we came out here and executed it like we’re supposed too.”

The Cardinals kept the pace up in the third quarter as well, outscoring the Eagles 16-4. Ryan Houston’s 10 points and Shawn Staples six points led Youngstown Christian, which committed 24 turnovers overall.

“[Eagles coach] Dolph Carroll’s teams are always high-basketball IQ and they play hard, so you can never take them lightly,” Danilov said. “They played great against St. Thomas Aquinas earlier in the season. So we played smart enough to get a nice lead, and it’s easier to play when you get a lead like that.”

Justin Lanzo added seven points for Mooney, while Johnny Durkin, Pat Braydich and Patrick Pelini each scored six points apiece. Koken didn’t record a bucket, he led the Cardinals with six rebounds.

“Every game I see improvement,” Bruno said. “Our defense and our offense. Just everything in general.SDRq