Basketball

Defeat driving Scioto boys

Wednesday,  January 7, 2009 12:12 PM

By SCOTT GERFEN

ThisWeek Contributor

By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek

The Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team doesn't put much stock in its first December loss in three seasons, but it has served as something of a spark.

What the 50-48 loss at the buzzer to North Canton Hoover on Dec. 12 has done is brought back a sense of urgency for the Irish.

"I would call it a bounce-back to reality game," coach Tony Bisutti said. "It's just kind of human nature to fight complacency. But the one thing I know about these guys is if they lose a game like that, they're going to come back with a vengeance."

The Irish before last Tuesday's OCC-Cardinal Division contest against Olentangy Liberty looked impressive on defense with four consecutive victories to improve to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the league.

Scioto held Westerville North standout Ralph Hill to nine points in a 52-29 win Dec. 19. Last Friday, it closed the game with an 8-0 run to take Mount Vernon 41-29. In last year's Division I district tournament, Scioto needed overtime to get past the Yellow Jackets 55-52 in the second round.

"I think that game against North Canton Hoover really showed us just how much more fundamental they were than us," point guard David McKinley said. "In practice, we've really been working hard on team defense. I think the biggest thing has been our communication."

The streak also included a 50-45 win at Independence on Dec. 30. Bradley McDougald, who's averaging about 15 points per game, scored the only points for Scioto in the fourth quarter and made two free throws with 30 seconds left to tie the game.

The Irish opened the game with a 13-0 run and led by seven at the start of the fourth quarter. Both teams ended up with more than 20 turnovers, but Scioto still held Mount Vernon to less than 30 percent shooting and outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 31-17. The Irish tallied 16 steals.

Scioto looked like a team without a point guard as McKinley sat the bench with a concussion. He was expected to be back in the starting five this week.

"Mount Vernon came into that game averaging 60 points a game so we were real happy with that," Bisutti said. "Our guys are really understand our team defense concepts, yet they've been able to pick up nuisances from our scouting reports where we might have to make slight adjustments."

Offensively, the Irish have yet to find their niche.

But Bisutti has watched 6-foot-6 sophomore Jamare Mills become a top contributor inside. He's averaging about 10 points per game along with McKinley.

"Our guys are getting an idea of how he can help us," Bisutti said. "By him being a factor inside, that's going to help guys on the perimeter. We're tying to understand little bits and pieces."

Scioto on Friday will face a Dublin Jerome team that was 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the league before last Tuesday's game at Marysville.

The Celtics are a young team that's learning a new system under a first-year coach with victories over Liberty 68-50 on Dec. 12 and Bolsa Grande (Calif.) 66-38 on Dec. 30 in the KSA Tournament at Disney World in Orlando.

"It's fun to play the guys you know," McKinley said. "But they seem to be a team that's buying into the system."

Scioto's Danielle Miller (left) steals a pass intended for New Albany's Haley Robertson last Saturday. The Irish won the OCC-Cardinal Division game 70-60.

At a glance

Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Scioto boys and girls basketball teams:

BOYS

Dec. 30 -- Defeated Independence 50-45 (OT). Bradley McDougald scored the only points in the fourth quarter with two free throws with 30 seconds left to tie the game.

Last Friday -- Def. Mount Vernon 41-29

*Last Tuesday -- Played Olentangy Liberty

*Friday -- at Dublin Jerome

Of note: The Irish were 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the OCC-Cardinal before last Tuesday.

GIRLS

Dec. 30 -- Def. Hilliard Darby 56-43. Lindsey Kell scored a career-high 16 points.

Last Saturday -- Def. New Albany 70-60. Blair Gorniak and Kesi Hess scored 27 points and hit a combined six 3-pointers.

*Last Tuesday -- Played Liberty

*Friday -- Home vs. Jerome

Of note: The Irish were 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the OCC-Cardinal before last Tuesday.

*OCC-Cardinal game