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Yankle lifts Mooney over Ursuline
Cardinal Mooney senior goes off
for 31 points against Ursuline
By Curtis Pulliam
Youngstown
It’s been a crazy two-and-a-half weeks in Jaclyn Yankle’s basketball career at Cardinal Mooney.
But she made sure it didn’t end against the Cardinals’ biggest rival.
Yankle scored 31 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as Mooney beat Ursuline 54-44 in a Division III sectional semifinal.
The win is the Cardinals’ first postseason victory in Yankle’s four years. On Feb. 8 scored her 1,000th career point for Cardinal Mooney.
“It’s been such a great season,” Yankle said. “Our team is really stepping it up for playoffs so I’m just looking forward to what’s coming next.”
That would be Springfield. The Tigers will host the Cardinals at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Irish tried everything on defense from double teams to half-court pressure, but couldn’t stop Yankle.
Cardinals head coach Erica Wilson knew the focus of the Irish defense would be centered around the senior. So Wilson wanted to get the ball inside to her senior leader.
“I’m not surprised,” said Wilson once told of Yankle’s stat line. “Last time we played against them, they were face-guarding her and pulling on her jersey. But we knew they only had smaller girls to guard her.”
The Cardinals (9-13) took advantage of Yankle’s size and got her the ball early and often.
Before the Irish knew it, Yankle scored 13 points in the first quarter.
“We had no answer for Yankle,” Ursuline head coach Sean Durkin said. “She did what great players do. In a big game, she took it over in the second half and a little bit in the first half.”
With Ursuline leading by as many as four in the third te Irish looked to have control of the game, but the Cardinals took a 40-39 entering the fourth.
And that’s where Durkin felt the game was won.
“They made some big plays in the fourth quarter and we didn’t,” he said.
The Cardinals led 17-16 after the first quarter, but the Irish (7-11) struck back in the second.
Simone Comer had seven points and Megan Ross hit a big 3-pointer to give the Irish a 28-23 lead with 3:25 left in the second.
Mooney hung around though and kept feeding Yankle.
Yankle scored seven in the fourth including a step-back jumper at the 4:50 mark to give the Cardinals a 44-41 lead.
The Cardinals never trailed again.
“We knew what we were up against,” Wilson said. “We had a strategy and we went over it the last four practices and they executed it.”
The Irish return all of their players next season, including Comer, who had a team-high 17 points.
“I thought she played great,” Durkin said. “She’s made big strides from the beginning of the year. Not just scoring, but in her all-around game as a sophomore. She’s going to be a heck of a player.”
But for now, Yankle and the Cardinals are enjoying their moment.
“It is the best feeling especially for my senior year to beat Ursuline for the first time in a tournament game,” Yankle said. “It’s such a good feeling. It’s a little extra special.”