43
Beany ignites Fitch victory
By BOB ETTINGER
AUSTINTOWN
Dylan Beany isn’t usually one to look for his own shot.
The opportunity presented itself, however, and he couldn’t but take advantage to lead Austintown Fitch past Ursuline, 56-40, Friday night at Fitch High School.
“I’ve always been a pass-first player,” Beany said. “Tonight, when I got the ball, I was calm. When I saw a lane, I drove. Sometimes, a teammate was open I made a couple of passes, but if it was open, I took it.”
Beany scored nine of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Falcons (3-4) used a 15-2 run to open the final frame.
“I tell the guys they have to be somewhat selfish at times,” Fitch coach Brian Beany said. “Sometimes, we try to make that extra pass and it’s not there or it’s through a tight window when the first option, attacking the hoop, is there.
“Sometimes, you have to take that thing over.”
The Fighting Irish (0-5) erased a 25-18 halftime deficit to enter the fourth down just two, 32-30.
Over the next 3:24, Fitch used that 15-2 run to put the game away.
“There were some crazy, immature mistakes,” Ursuline coach Keith Gunther said. “They went on that 15-2 run because we took poor shots, made poor decisions on defense and gave up easy drives to the bucket for easy layups.
“There were a couple of possessions our basketball IQ wasn’t very high,” Gunther said. “It went from seven to 12 to 15 instead of going from seven to five to three.
“Sometimes, they think the way back into the game when you’re down is to hurry up and rush shots. The good concept is to slow down and work the ball for the open shots.”
Dylan Beany opened the fourth with a drive to the bucket and Emanuel Dawkins converted a traditional three-point play to put the Falcons up, 37-30, with 7:20 left.
Beany added three more points and Dawkins another bucket in the run. Randy Smith added a three-point play and Cole Constance scored a bucket to complete the run.
“The last two games, for whatever reason, it was like we were stuck in cement,” Brian Beany said. “We were a step late and our communication wasn’t good. “For the most part, we’re great at that tonight. Our energy was there tonight and our communication was fantastic. That was a good bounce-back win for us. That was the type of effort we expect every game.”
Keevey led everyone with 21 points and had 10 rebounds for the Fighting Irish. Vince Armeni added seven points, four rebounds and four steals.
Smith and Dawkins each had nine points for the Falcons and Tom Leskovac (4 points) had 12 rebounds off the bench.