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Mooney’s press shuts down Ridge
Cardinals force 25 turnovers in win
YOUNGSTOWN
It took a little bit for Cardinal Mooney to get going in its first-round tournament game against Mineral Ridge. But the Cardinals found their groove in the second half and ran away for a 62-35 win.
Mooney will now play at home against Canton Central Catholic on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a sectional final.
Camden Hergenrother led the Cardinals with 14 points while Carolyn Kay had 12 in the win. Alexa Harkins finished with 12 points for Mineral Ridge while Taryn Kolesar had 10 in defeat.
The Cardinals held a 14-12 advantage after the first quarter and after a run to close out the half, went into the locker room with a 29-19 lead.
“Normally we start out a little slow so I wasn’t too nervous,” Hergenrother said. “But we came out in the third quarter stronger and more prepared once we got rid of all the pregame jitters.”
Mooney outscored Mineral Ridge 19-8 in the third quarter as the full-court press the Cardinals had been successful with most of the night opened the floodgates.
“Once they got a taste for blood in the press they didn’t come out of it,” Mineral Ridge head coach Matt Clause said. “They probably got 20 points on loose ball turnovers on the press and that was it for us.
“After that we never felt like we were in the game.”
Mooney head coach Erica Wilson said after doing a little homework on the Rams, she felt her guards could cause havoc.
“We’ve been working on defense all year and seeing what was most effective,” Wilson said. “We scouted them and we felt confident in our pressure. We’ve got lots of young players who love to play defense so we went after them.”
Clause said he and his staff made adjustments on how to break the press at halftime. But the results just weren’t there.
“We just didn’t execute,” Clause said. “Sometimes you think the plan will work, but we didn’t execute. They’ve got great guards. Their girls put pressure on you and get to their spots and our girls just didn’t execute. We played well but didn’t on the press break.”
In total, the Rams turned the ball over 25 times and did not have much of an answer defensively once the Cardinals began holding the ball and hitting outside shots in the second half.
“We tried to get the ball inside to our posts [initially],” Wilson said. “When you’re winning you feel a little bit better about shooting it from the outside.”
Mooney was rolling so much in the fourth quarter Wilson was able to empty her bench and get everyone into the game.
“It’s more fun when different people score,” Hergenrother said. “It’s more fun when the people who don’t normally play as much get in. We all wanted to get the ball to them.”
The win sets up a rematch with the Crusaders of Canton Central Catholic. Mooney defeated CCC 67-58 on Jan. 14 on the road.
“They are the defending district champions so they’re going to come to play,” Wilson said. “They took the bye to play us first so I’m happy we’re on our home court.”
Hergenrother said she and her teammates need a stronger start if they’re to move on to a district semifinal in Struthers. A win against CCC could mean a matchup with Ursuline, which will play Crestview on Saturday at the same time.
“I’m excited, a little nervous and very anxious,” Hergenrother said. “We’ve just got to come out hard. We can’t come out slow again.”