43
Aquinas 3s exorcise Devils
STRUTHERS
More than once, McDonald coach Jeff Rasile used his mouth to speak of Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas and what he saw with his eyes.
“There were little things we could have done differently, but, let’s be realistic, the better team won the game,” Rasile said of what unfolded in front of him on the Struthers Fieldhouse floor during Friday night’s Division IV district final that McDonald lost, 72-53.
“My kids had a great season,” Rasile said after succumbing to Aquinas (21-4) in the district championship game for a second straight year. “We realized that if we got to the district finals, we’d have to play St. Thomas Aquinas. They showed us last year that we needed to play a little better this year. We came in with a different system and it worked out. I think, offensively, we were able to spread them out and get to the rim.”
Rasile was genuine in his comments about Aquinas because the 2013-14 season’s Division IV state runner-up packed a wallop by making 12 of 26 3-point goals, including four by Jacob Paul, whose game-high 24 points came on 10 fielders.
“We were right where we wanted to be,” Rasile said after his Blue Devils (18-6) outscoring Aquinas in the second quarter, 19-14, to pull within 35-27 at halftime.
“We told the kids that we wanted to be no worse than 8-10 down at halftime, but it’s the first and third quarters that killed us.”
McDonald needed to come out of the gate strong to start the third quarter.
“We needed to get a couple stops, a couple layups, but, you know, they’re a great team. They’re making shots, banging 3’s. If you can cut that to 2, 4, 6 points, maybe they start tightening up and miss those shots. Obviously, it didn’t work,” he said as Aquinas went on a 13-0 run to go up, 48-27.
“We did a lot of good things, but we didn’t get it done, probably because that’s a very good basketball team and they’re going to be in the mix,” Rasile said of Aquinas reaching state again and, most likely, the finals again.
Not only did the Knights’ pressure caused problems – as evidenced by McDonald’s 16 turnovers to Aquinas’ six — but their scoring was devastating.
“Anyt ime it seemed like we were getting back in: big 3, big 3 and with some guys we didn’t expect to make those shots,” he said of the Blue Devils anticipating three good shooters and not four.
Point guard Anthony Moeglin and Daniel Piero had 14 points apiece while Logan Newman added 11 for the winners, who were top-seeded. Of Gino Pellegrene’s seven points, three came from outside the arc.
Aquinas coach Matt Hackenberg said that McDonald was leaving shooters open, especially Paul, the Knights’ shooting guard.
“They weren’t covering him too much, so that made my eyes get real big. He was shooting the ball confidently and he’s always the centerpiece of our defensive scheme because of the pressure he can put on opposing teams’ ballhandlers.”
McDonald was led by Jake Reckard and Brad Woodley with 20 and 15 points, respectively. Both had eight rebounds apiece while Matt Howard also grabbed eight of McDonald’s 38 rebounds.
Aquinas’ four losses have been two to Cleveland Central Catholic and one apiece to Villa Angela-St. Joseph and Ursuline.