43
Ursuline continues the grind vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
YOUNGSTOWN
There’s an inspirational message written on the back of the warm-up shirts worn by the Ursuline High boys basketball team.
Highlighted within that message are two words: “THE GRIND.”
Following a 66-46 win over Ohio’s second-ranked team in Division IV, Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas, Irish head coach Keith Gunther referred to the stretch of the season his team is going through right now as “the grind.”
So far, so good for the seventh-ranked squad in Division III, as the Irish improved to 15-2 on the season.
“We’re just trying to get better every game,” said senior Mark Hughes. “Going into the tournament we want to get a little momentum going and just really hit our peak right around this grind time.
“We hit our peak there, we got a good chance.”
For the first eight minutes Tuesday night, Gunther didn’t even recognize the team in white. In fact, he was so disgusted with his players’ defensive efforts, he threatened to stop the game right there and just have them run sprints.
His Irish led 19-17, but it was their effort on the defensive end that had Gunther running circles on the sideline.
“We weren’t getting back, we weren’t closing out, we weren’t doing anything we talked about and that’s why I was frustrated,” Gunther said. “Then, once we picked it up defensively, everything that they got was a struggle.”
While the Knights (15-2) went cold on the scoreboard, Irish guard Greg Parella began to heat up from behind the arc. The junior connected on 6 of 11 3-pointers and finished with 22 points.
His open looks were facilitated by the penetration of Wright State commit Mark Hughes.
“He’s really good at finding the open guy, and when he drives, they’ll collapse,” Parella said of his point guard Hughes.
“Tonight, he found me and I was able to hit.”
It’s those two and junior Dave Collins who make the Irish tick. Hughes had 14 points and five assists, while Collins scored 13 and pulled down five boards. Add in Parella’s productive night and the Irish’s big three accounted for nearly 75 percent of the scoring on Tuesday.
“When they’re penetrating, and kicking, and moving the ball, and making the extra pass, I’ll be honest with you,” Gunther said, “I think we got three of the best guards in Ohio.
“Of course we know Mark is and Greg and Dave are really close behind him.”
Aquinas was limited to 14 points on just 5-of-12 shooting from the floor in the second and third quarters, as Ursuline extended its two-point, first-quarter lead to 18 by the start of the fourth. Ursuline’s defensive pressure caused nine turnovers and allowed the Irish to pull away.
“Coming out at the half, we got a lot of stops and that just opened up for our easy buckets,” Hughes said. “Then we got Greg going and we just kept finding him and he was hitting shots.”
Gunther was hoping Aquinas’ speed and quickness would give his team a test. From what he saw, his players passed the test.
“The rest of the way, everything is preparation for the tournament,” he said. “We knew Aquinas was really good coming in, so for us to be able to defend like that, it’s a big lift not just with the win, but also for them mentally.”