Irish use same MO to finish sweep of Cards

February 6, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

Irish use same

MO to finish

sweep of Cards

By BRIAN DZENIS

YOUNGSTOWN

There’s a chance Ursuline could run into Cardinal Mooney in the postseason and the Irish probably wouldn’t mind a third meeting.

Using a lot of the same tactics from the first meeting, Ursuline swept the Holy War series with a 51-41 road victory. The Irish won the first meeting, 65-58.

Here’s their plan to stop Mooney: get an early lead, force Mooney to shoot from outside, rebound and win. Getting into the bonus toward the end of the game also helps the cause.

“We knew they were a driving team so we sagged off and let them shoot because we didn’t want them driving at all,” Ursuline center Armon Nasseri said.

The first step came to fruition in the first quarter when Greg Parella made three consecutive 3-pointers to close out the period. The second part worked out as well as the Irish forced the Cardinals to go 4 for 18 from downtown for the contest. The Cardinals’ woes from beyond the arc allowed Ursuline to withstand a stretch when it managed just two points for most of the second quarter, only breaking through in the final minute before halftime when Nasseri sparked a run by splitting two foul shots and then converting a three-point play.

“We just started getting it done,” Nasseri said. “Greg and I talked about it and said, ‘It’s time to pick it up’ and we got through.”

After any given game, Ursuline coach Keith Gunther speaks with a hoarse voice. The reason? He yells at his big men more than any other position. He knew their rebounding would be key to beating Mooney and most of their other opponents.

“I hate to say it, but sometimes bigs have a tendency to relax. It’s never the little guards that I have to worry about,” Gunther said. “It’s the bigs you have to keep pushing to get the rebounds. Sometimes they think their size is enough and it’s not enough. It takes effort and toughness to get rebounds.”

Said Nasseri: “He just knows if we get every rebound, we’ll win the game and that’s why he pushes us every single day.”

The Cardinals actually had a 40-32 advantage on the glass, but Gunther said his team made the most of situational rebounds.

“I thought the difference is our big guys got a lot of key rebounds and scored buckets around the basket,” Gunther said. “Of course, Greg hit some big shots. He got it going early then tried to clamp on him a little bit.”

Parella led the Irish with 25 points, including four 3-pointers. He had 11 of his 25 in the first quarter.

“We could a better job around the hoop boxing out and rebounding — we have to team rebound better,” Cardinal Mooney coach Brian Danilov said. “With the stats we were told, it was decided at the foul line.”

The reason for his gripes stem from his team getting just seven free-throw attempts to Ursuline’s 21. Trell Thomas led Mooney with 15 points. His best stuff came on defense with his propensity to strip the ball from Irish players, be they bigs in the paint or out in the open floor.

“I think they’re a totally different team with Trell Thomas,” Gunther said. “He has you on your heels all the time because he’s always in attack mode.”

The pace of the game was slower than Ursuline would have liked, but the Irish did enough to get the sweep.

“Any time you win against them, it’s a big plus for the program and for the kids,” Gunther said.

Nasseri agreed.

“It’s a blessing, man,” he said.