Aquinas ousts Western Reserve

March 11, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

STRUTHERS

A sluggish first quarter during Tuesday’s Division IV district semifinal game with Western Reserve proved to be the ideal wakeup call for top-seed Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas.

It proved to be the undoing for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils.

Jacob Paul’s 19 points led five Knights in double figures and Aquinas rode a 31-point second period to an 81-50 victory over the Blue Devils at the Struthers Field House.

They will meet second-seeded McDonald in Friday’s district final. The Knights beat the Blue Devils 90-48 a season ago en route to their state runner-up finish.

“They [Western Reserve] dictated the tempo of the game in the first quarter. We tried to trap them, but they got the ball to the middle and were then able to drop it off to [Joe] Falasca inside,” Knights head coach Matt Hackenberg said. “Turnovers and points in transition were big for us tonight as well.”

Falasca, who will attend Glenville State this fall — where he will play football and run track — had a game-high 28 points for the Blue Devils.

Falasca and Nolan Snyder combined for 12 points in the opening period as Western Reserve was able to forge a 15-14 lead after the first eight minutes of action.

Four points by Falasca and a bucket by Wyatt Larimer helped the Blue Devils (16-8) knot the game at 21 at the 5:01 mark of the second period, but eight points by Anthony Moeglin keyed a 24-6 run by the Knights (20-4) as they built a 45-27 halftime advantage.

“We wanted to keep going at them and pound the ball — just keep busting our butts the whole game,” Falasca said. “We had a great season and under coach [Patsy] Daltorio we’ve improved so much since my freshman season. The program is on a different level right and I’m glad to have been a part of it.”

Eight points by Gino Pellegreene then helped the Knights build a 64-37 margin after three periods.

They then outscored the Blue Devils, 17-13 in the final frame for their third straight tournament victory by at least 30 points.

Despite the loss, it was the first time in six seasons that the Blue Devils have posted a winning record.

“Moeglin is their energy guy, but we felt that Paul was their engine — the player who attacks, distributes the ball and makes them go,” Daltorio said. “He’s fearless, a fighter and competitor and that’s a big part of their attitude. The game plan was to defend the perimeter, limit transition baskets and rebound.

“In the second period we took a couple of quick shots, they hit some 3’s and we were sluggish getting back on defense. They are a complete team that just doesn’t have many weaknesses.”

The Blue Devils held a 34-24 rebounding advantage with Falasca securing the final double-double of his career with a game-high 11 boards.

The Knights, who connected on eight buckets from beyond the arc, forced 22 turnovers and also had 14 steals.