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Pelini rallies Mooney past Fitch
By Greg Gulas
AUSTINTOWN
Sidelined several games earlier this month while nursing a back injury, Cardinal Mooney’s Pat Pelini said he had enough of watching his teammates from the bench.
After incurring early foul trouble during the first half of Friday night’s game at Austintown Fitch, and then picking up his fourth personal midway through the third period, that all too familiar feeling of sitting back helplessly on the bench slowly returned.
But when he re-entered the game in the fourth quarter, Pelini made sure the Falcons paid.
Pelini registered eight points, a steal and two blocks over the final 2:24, including a rejection on a game-winning attempt by Fitch’s Randy Smith as time expired and the Cardinals edged the Falcons, 42-40.
“It’s always tough watching from the bench and I did enough of that when I had my back injury. When I’m in the game, helping the team win is all that matters,” Pelini said. “Coach [Carey] Palermo tells us that you win with guts and the last several minutes of the game were definitely a gut-check.
“We’ve had quite a few games this season when we really looked good during a particular quarter, but the last quarter tonight when we battled back was as good as any we’ve had this year.”
Trailing 34-28 entering the fourth quarter, five points by Mooney’s Jordan Stanford, including his only bucket from beyond the arc, offset a Cole Constance tally to cut the deficit to 36-33 with 6:39 remaining.
Two free throws by Smith at the 5:35 mark extended the Fitch lead to 38-33, but neither team could mount any offense over the next 3:11.
But Pelini’s steal and layup cut the margin to 38-35 and then he made back-to-back triples as Mooney (7-13) built a 41-38 lead with 57 seconds remaining.
After Pelini blocked Ryan Sheffield’s 3-point attempt, Terrrell Brown split two foul shots for a 42-38 lead.
Two free throws by Sheffield with 11 seconds remaining cut the Mooney lead to 42-40 but after getting the ball back, Smith had his 3-point attempt altered by Pelini as time ran out.
“The one thing this team does really well is defend. Our goal is to hold opponents to 10 points or less in a quarter and we feel that is a very realistic goal,” Palermo said. “It’s all about technique, communication and effort and tonight we had all three going for us.
“Pat is our leader and hardest worker, a real coach on the court. At the end of the game, we want the ball in his hands.”
“We just stayed together, looking to find the open man on offense while playing solid defense,” said Anthony Fire, who led Mooney with 12 points.
Fitch led 34-24 late in the third after a basket by Dylan Beany.
“Credit Pat Pelini because he took over the game during the last three minutes,” Fitch coach Brian Beany said. “We’re still a team that doesn’t know how to maintain for 32 minutes.
“Things don’t go your way the whole time, so it’s important to be able to come back from the dips. ... This was a tough one tonight because we had the lead, but let it slip away.”