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Harris, Ursuline hold off Struthers
Irish use 31-7 first-half run
for big lead at halftime
By Dan Hiner
Youngstown
The Ursuline girls basketball team is back in the district semifinals.
The Irish beat Struthers 68-60 at Ursuline High School on Thursday in a Division II sectional final.
Ursuline made the Division III district semifinals in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. But the Irish were knocked out in the sectional finals by Poland in a 50-49 overtime loss last season.
“That loss to Poland definitely ate us up,” Ursuline guard Dayshanette Harris said. “We learned from what we did in that game. I felt like we grew mentally and physically.
“Another shot at districts is amazing, but we’re gonna try to take it further than districts this year.”
Harris led the Irish with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Anyah Curd scored 13 points with five rebounds and block.
Emma Elia scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Wildcats. Trinity McDowell finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Struthers (15-9) punched Ursuline in the mouth in the first quarter, jumping out to a 11-6 lead. But the Irish rebounded.
Ursuline (16-7) outscored Struthers 31-7 over final 11:14 of the first half. The Wildcats went 2 for 24 from the floor during the run. McDowell scored with 1:52 left in the second quarter to snap a nearly 10-minute drought.
“In the second quarter I think six minutes went by, five-and-a-half minutes went by,” Struthers head coach Bill Neider said. “We were getting good shots, the ball just wasn’t going in. We dug ourselves in a hole and we’re down 20, 21 points at half. It’s kind of a battle.”
The Irish increased the lead to 61-36 to start the fourth quarter, but Struthers wasn’t out of it.
The Wildcats outscored the Irish 25-7 in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to single digits.
Struthers trailed 64-56 after a pair of free throws by Elia. But a half-court violation and a missed 3-pointer on the Wildcats next possessions prevented the comeback.
“I’m very proud of our girls. They’ve come a long way this year,” Neider said. “They played Struthers basketball. They never quit and played with a lot of heart.”
Ursuline has four seniors on the roster, including Harris. The Irish’s leading scorer has bigger goals than making a district semifinal.
“We kind of slacked off on ‘em a bit,” Harris said. “They came back to punch us in the mouth. But we weathered through the storm, got ourselves together and found a way to pull out the win.”
The Irish will play Cardinal Mooney at Austintown Fitch High School at 7:45 p.m. Monday.
The Cardinals beat the Irish in both meetings this season. But the last meeting was odd.
The Irish lost to the Cardinals 96-13 at Cardinal Mooney on Saturday, but didn’t play any of their starters. Ursuline coach Vannessa Dickson wouldn’t say why the starters sat against their rival.
Dickson knows the third game between the two teams will be just as competitive as their normal regular-season matchups.
“Any time you put Mooney and Ursuline together, you gotta throw the records out, throw everything you’ve done out up to that point,” she said. “You just gotta go battle for 32 minutes.
“I know Mooney’s gonna come ready to play, and they’re gonna be eager to play just as well as we are.”