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Ursuline is Valley’s last hope for hoops
Irish vs. Irish in D-II regional semifinal in Canton
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Another regional tournament, another parochial powerhouse awaiting the Ursuline High boys basketball team.
For the third straight year and seventh time under head coach Keith Gunther, the Irish are district champions. The difference this season is they are in Division II.
So instead of facing Division III’s Cleveland VASJ — which ousted the Irish the past two seasons — the opponent tonight will be Akron Saint Vincent-St. Mary at the Canton Civic Center. The past two seasons, SVSM ousted Poland.
“It’s a big step for us,” said senior forward Armon Nasseri after the Irish defeated Poland 73-61 last Saturday at Boardman High School. “I think it’s going to be a good one.
“The first game, we just had too many turnovers. We know if we prevent that, we have a good chance of winning [but] we know they are a great team.”
The two Irish squads played in December. SVSM won, 61-42.
“We played them tough,” said senior guard Greg Parella who scored 28 point against Poland to become the school’s all-time leading scorer (1,388). “It’s going to be a battle.”
Ursuline head coach Keith Gunther has no problem that his team might again be prevented from experiencing a state trip because of a school that attracts players from beyond Ohio.
“St. V is a nationally known program, with [2003 graduate] LeBron James as the focal point,” Gunther said. “There are going to be kids around the country that do want to come there. That’s just a fact.
“Look at how many guys that Coach [Dru] Joyce has sent to Division I programs over the past four or five years. So if you’re a parent and you’ve got a chance to come here and get your kid to play for that program, you’re going to [look into] that possibility.
“It doesn’t bother me a bit.”
Because so many public schools have gone to open enrollment, Gunther says times have changed.
“There was a time when I would say that would be an issue,” Gunther said. “But with open enrollment nowadays, kids are moving all over the place. There are two kids from Youngstown right now who are playing for Warren Harding.
“We’re not whining about it — that’s where they want to go to school,” Gunther said. “We live in a free country, people have options. I know people get upset about it.”
Gunther thinks his team is better prepared for tonight’s rematch.
“When we played them earlier in the year, it was [the fifth] game and I didn’t think we were ready,” Gunther said. “We were young, we had lost our 25-point scorer [Mark Hughes to graduation], we were trying to find ourselves.
“I think we’ve grown, I think we’ve matured,” Gunther said.
After the McDonald, Newton Falls and Warren Harding boys all lost regional semifinals this week and girls teams from Jackson-Milton, Lakeview and Newton Falls fell at the same level last week, Ursuline is the Mahoning Valley’s last team standing.
Gunther said Mahoning Valley teams face major challenges at regional.
“There are levels in basketball,” Gunther said. “Sometimes you meet a level and you can’t get it done. Like last year, I would have loved to [have beaten] St. Joe’s. But they were just at another level than us.
“Do I think St. V is on that level this year? No, I don’t think so,” Gunther said. “Are they a great basketball team? Yes.
“But are they an overly powerful team that you have to go out there and play great to win? No. But we’ve got to play good to win and we’ve got to play tough to win.”