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Brown’s double-double carries Chaney
YOUNGSTOWN
The story of the night in Chaney’s 77-69 win over Girard was the toddler who was able to sleep in its father’s arms throughout the noisy and raucous game, but the turning point was midway through the second quarter.
“Their one spurt in that second quarter really hurt us; the rest of the way, we were even or better,” Girard coach Craig Hannon said of Girard’s 18-14 deficit jumping to 25-14. “In that one spurt, we turned the ball over and couldn’t seem to get doing downhill [get past the defense and get to the rim]. In the second half, we did a great job of that. We were able to get to the rim and get fouled. In the first half, they really pushed us out and we were unable to handle their pressure.”
Austin Claussell had game-high 28 points for Girard, which bowed out 13-11, while William Brown’s 21 points and 12 rebounds led Chaney (19-5).
“I think it was just the atmosphere and different people coming to our gym,” Brown said. “It was 10 in-a-row now, so we know how to keep the pace and keep it going,” the 6-5 junior said of Chaney’s now-11 game win streak and the team’s collective level-headedness that has made it possible. “We play half-court, but we like to get the ball up [the court] and go. We don’t care who’s scoring, we just get the ball up.”
The Cowboys will meet Lakeview at 7 p.m. Thursday at Boardman High School.
Because it’s tournament time, Brown said that players are going to play their hearts out.
“Everybody, especially the seniors, are going to put their best into it because everybody wants to win,” he said. “This is where it gets tough.”
Chaney coach Marlon McGaughy said Girard caused some problems, especially for a team that has been dealing with injuries.
“We stress playing hard, each and every play,” he said. “Girard kind of set us off a little bit with a lot of screen action. We allowed too much penetration tonight and we don’t like that. We had a couple guys in foul trouble early so we had to back off a little bit, but in the third quarter, we kind of got more physical and got up in them to make them pass the ball. They’re a good passing team so you’ve got to stay with their man.
“They’ve got a couple guys hurt. Usually, they go a couple guys into their bench, but they couldn’t tonight. I felt sorry for the young man [Austin O’Hara]; it almost brought tears to my eyes when he hit that 3. He limped off the floor and that kind of got to me there,” McGaughy said of O’Hara’s cameo appearance that was capped by a 3-point goal.
Hannon said that O’Hara played two games and a quarter before his injury.
“We’ve missed him all year, basically, but Claussell’s high-scoring is indicative of what he’s done for three seasons now. He’s a 1,000-point scorer. What’s happened to this senior group is horribly unfair,” Hannon said of the injuries [to O’Hara and Nick Bonamese]. This should have been a group that, if they stayed healthy, would be one of the best if not the best in the area. But the senior group dealt with it with class, with pride.”
Bonamese went out about halfway through the season.
“Chaney’s assembled a nice team,” Hannon said. “It’s quite a story that they were able to come back with sports and have this good a basketball team. Best of luck to them in the next round.”