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McDonald’s Rasile sets state record for 3s, but Bristol wins
By BOB ETTINGER
BRISTOLVILLE
McDonald guard Zach Rasile has taken hundreds of thousands of shots in his lifetime, all of them in preparation for the one that gave him a place in Ohio basketball history on Saturday night.
The moment, however, was overshadowed as the Blue Devils fell, 64-60, at Bristol.
Matt Church netted 18 points and Gage Elza added 17 for the Panthers.
With 38 seconds left in the first quarter, Rasile took a pass from Josh Celli and fired a 3-pointer from the wing. As the ball sailed through the hoop, the junior shattered the state record for triples in a career with his 330th. He had tied the record with three 3-pointers in a 64-56 win over Sebring.
“After his freshman year, barring injury, we knew he was going to get the state record,” McDonald coach Jeff Rasile said. “I know it seems like it’s a big thing to get the record, but honest to God, our family doesn’t care about those things. We just want to win basketball games. We lost. It’s about winning and losing. That said, he worked hard to get there.”
Echoing the sentiment of his coach and dad, Zach Rasile put the record in perspective.
“It’s probably 50,000 or 60,000 shots [in the offseason],” Zach Rasile said. “We used to keep track, but at some point, we stopped. I don’t really know, but it’s a lot. I think it’s worth it. It helps us win, so I try and have fun with it.”
Zach Rasile was quick to give credit to his teammates.
“It’s a big accomplishment, especially for the team,” he said. “My teammates did a great job helping me out. It would’ve been better if we’d have won tonight. That makes it bittersweet, but that happens, I guess. I think I’ve just had great teammates over the years. They feed me the ball and allow me to do my thing. They sacrifice their own success for my success. I’ve been blessed.”
The Panthers (14-2) used a 10-0 run to close the third period in taking a 46-35 lead into the final eight minutes.
“We just created bedlam,” Bristol coach Craig Giesy said. “The boys did a great job executing the gameplan. The first quarter couldn’t have gone worse. Damion Durst did a great job tonight on Rasile. Obviously, he had help, but he did a great job staying around and making him work for everything he got.”
Bristol trailed 16-5 after one quarter, but used a 22-11 second-quarter run to change the momentum.
Zach Rasile was held to 12 points, but McDonald (9-7) was able to cut the deficit to three, 50-47, with 2:57 remaining in the fourth on a put-back from Jake Portolese (game-high 23 points). Triples by Portolese on consecutive possessions had the Blue Devils within a pair, 60-58, with 38 seconds to go.
“Jake did a great job in the first half,” Jeff Rasile said. “He hung around the basket and made the easy ones. Late in the game, he had those two 3s. They were great shots and they put us back in the game.”
The Panthers missed on a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining, but McDonald turned the ball over. Elza came up with the loose ball and was fouled. He sealed the victory with a pair of free throws.
“I thought we lost the game in the second quarter,” Jeff Rasile said. “We owned the first quarter, even though they triple-teamed Zach. In the second, we weren’t able to make the easy ones. We made a couple of mistakes here, a couple of mistakes there. With 10 seconds left, we had the ball with a chance to win the game. We didn’t make a play when we had to.”