Rasile embraces more dominant role

By Dan Hiner

dhiner@vindy.com

McDonald

It was an important offseason for McDonald basketball ace Zach Rasile.

His Blue Devils entered the season without forward Braedon Poole and Matthew Beedle, who graduated.

So the junior guard put in work and focused on a more dominant role heading into the 2018-19 season.

“I think in years past, we had other scoring options — like Braedon Poole, obviously, who averaged 25-26 points per game,” Rasile said. “I knew I had to pick up a little bit of the load from there, as well as other guys.”

The hard work was evident over the last week. Rasile scored 100 points in the Blue Devils’ last two games.

Rasile scored 52 points and made 12 3-pointers, breaking two school records Saturday in the Blue Devils’ 102-40 win over Maplewood. On Friday, he scored 48 points to lead McDonald to a 72-63 win over Lowellville.

“I definitely think I shot the ball well in the last two games, which led to scoring a lot more, obviously,” Rasile said. “I felt real confident. A couple good nights I guess.”

Rasile has been the focal point of the offense since his freshman season.

Opposing defenses have gameplanned around him, and Blue Devils head coach Jeff Rasile said Zach has gotten better this season because of the attention.

“When he was in 9th grade, he was 5-7, 120 pounds,” Jeff Rasile said. “I just think [he] continued to get bigger and stronger and mentally tougher. And then you know the game.

“There’s not much that goes on in a high school basketball game that Zach hasn’t seen defensively.”

McDonald has won four straight after starting the season 2-4. Jeff Rasile said the departures of Poole and Beedle forced younger players into new roles.

But the team is starting to gain some momentum after tough losses to Waterloo and Springfield.

“I’m a firm believer that players get better in the offseason, teams get better in the season,” Jeff Rasile said. “We didn’t have the best offseason across the board with all these players and that’s why it’s taken a little more time for them to adapt.

“But Zach’s one of those kids that’s in the gym every day and he’s in the weight room every day.”

International Flavor

The Blue Devils have added Mattia Barbesino to the roster. The newest member of the team flew in from Italy on Friday night.

Jeff Rasile had to leave their game in the third quarter on Friday to picked him up at the airport.

Barbesino is eligible to play immediately since he is a part of a recognized exchange program under OHSAA bylaws.

Zach Rasile played in Italy over the summer, where the Rasile family met Barbesino.

Jeff Rasile stressed that he did not recruit Barbesino and the team is still determining his role with the team.