Devils unfazed by pressure

By Steve ruman

sports@vindy.com

MINERAL RIDGE

Amy Dolsak has a simple solution to any pressures her youthful McDonald High School girls basketball team might encounter because of its undefeated record and No. 8 statewide ranking in the Associated Press Poll.

“We don’t talk about those things, we just don’t make our record or our ranking a focus of who we are or what we want to be,” the Blue Devils head coach said on Monday. “Our goals are to improve every night, and to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”

How the Blue Devils will perform in February remains to be seen, but they certainly seem to be hitting their stride in mid-season.

On Monday, the Devils lifted their record to 12-0, 9-0 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference with a resounding 46-18 road win over backyard rival Mineral Ridge.

Olivia Perry — the lone senior starter for McDonald — led all scorers with 14 points.

Sophia Costantino — one of four sophomore starters for the Blue Devils — added 13 points.

Mineral Ridge was paced by Fran Kesner’s six points. Lizzy Panic and Alexa Harkins scored four apiece for the Rams.

“I was pretty pleased with our effort tonight,” Dolsak said. “We were looking to get the ball up court quickly and get some good looks, and we did that in the first quarter.

“We made some mistakes, we weren’t quite as sharp at times as we want to be, but overall we did what we set out to do.

“We still have a lot of work to do, we’re still very much growing as a team, but as a coach you can’t be too displeased about being undefeated at this point in the season. It’s just the little things that we still need to iron out.”

McDonald wasted no time in recording its second win of the season over the Rams (7-8, 4-6). Because of depleted rosters, Monday’s junior varsity contest was reduced to two quarters.

The varsity game started well before its scheduled 7 p.m. tip-off, and by the time some fans found their seats, the Blue Devils were well on their way to victory.

Perry scored eight of her 14 points in the first six minutes of play, and the Devils led 16-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Mineral Ridge didn’t score its first field goal until the 4:50 mark of the second period. The Rams did score 10 points in the frame to cut their deficit to 23-12 at the break. However, McDonald went on a 16-0 run in the second half to put the game away.

“We had a bit of a rough second quarter,” Perry said. “After a fast start we got a little sloppy, but we picked things up again in the second half.

“We don’t take any opponent lightly because we know there’s a bit of a target on our back. ”

As the lone senior starter among four sophomores, Perry understands here role as a team leader.

“I know I have to step up in terms of being a role model and a good example, but honestly these [sophomores] are amazing, they are a great group and we all have a lot of good chemistry among us,” Perry said. “Playing together last year really helped. Now its like we’re all on the same level.”