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Ursuline alters Aquinas' final shot in home win
By Brooke meenachaN
Youngstown
St. Thomas Aquinas used four timeouts in the final two seconds of Tuesday night’s contest against Ursuline to draw up a 3-point play in order to tie the game.
“We just wanted to keep in our minds that we were switching on all screens. We were just trying to push them off the 3-point line so they couldn’t possibly tie the game up,” Ursuline’s Anthony Howell said.
Michael Sommers got the ball off the inbounds pass and put up a shot nearly four feet behind the arc with .7 seconds on the clock. Dakota Hobbs contested the shot and the ball banked off the rim at the buzzer.
The Irish won 53-50.
“We executed what we wanted to and got a shot, but it just didn’t go our way,” Aquinas coach Jason Herold said.
Howell commended Hobbs’ effort
“I was happy because the whole game was close. I think Dakota did a great job by making the shot tough,” Anthony Howell said.
That was Ursuline’s game plan from the start, Ursuline coach Keith Gunther said.
“We wanted to shut down the three, but our goal was also not to give up the drive. I thought that’s where they hurt us. It got them a lot of easy looks,” Gunther said.
The Irish (12-5) struggled defensively in the first two quarters, allowing the Knights to penetrate to the hole.
“We were horrible defensively in the second quarter,” Gunther said. “I thought we really clamped down in the third and fourth quarter.”
St. Thomas Aquinas led 32-28 at the half.
“I told them if we don’t start defending there’s no way we’re going to win this basketball game. It’s going to be a tough night for us,” Gunther said.
The Irish got the halftime message. They picked up the slack in the third quarter and eventually took a 41-40 lead heading into the final frame.
From there, it was a back-and-forth battle.
The Knights regained the lead off a bucket from Bryson Knott.
The Irish responded with a drive to the basket from Howell and two made free throws from Hobbs to extend their lead 45-42.
St. Thomas Aquinas countered with a shot from Jaret Knox and a steal from Sommer, which ended in a 3-point play to make it 47-45 in the Knights favor.
Hobbs and Howell quickly made up for it. Hobbs netted a three at the top of the arc and Howell added another bucket.
Howell was an offensive threat for the Irish, leading all scorers with 21 points.
“Our key was to get him out within three feet of the basket and try and make him maneuver and limit him away from the hoop,” Herold said.
The Knights didn’t quite execute their plan.
But the big man couldn’t convert at the line with 2 minutes remaining and the game remained even at 50-50.
Hobbs and Anise Algahmee helped their teammate out by draining three foul shots to seal the win.
Hobbs contributed 12 points and Algahmee added 13 in the win.
“It was a battle back and forth, but when it came down to it, they just hit a few more free throws and got the key buckets when they needed to,” Herold said. “I’m proud of our boys. It was a very valiant effort.”
Sommer led the Knights with 12 points, while Logan Newman added 11.
“I thought they did a great job coming in here and giving us an unbelievable battle,” Gunther said.