DEFENSE, BALANCE LEAD TO VICTORY OVER WARHAWKS

A strong defensive performance through three quarters and a commitment to team play earned the Irish a 58-45 home win over the Westerville Central Warhawks on Tuesday night.

How did the Irish earn this OCC Cardinal victory?

Success always begins and ends at Scioto with team defense.

Beginning toward the end of the first quarter, they held the Warhawks without a field goal for more than 14 minutes. This included the entire second and the first five minutes of the third quarter.

This allowed the Irish to build a 33-14 lead that was extended to 40-19 by the end of the third quarter. They held the Warhawks to 36 percent shooting from the field for the game.

In addition to giving up very few easy looks at the basket, six different players had steals. Bradley McDougald led the Irish with 5, followed by Rainer Duzan (4), Eric Stamets (3), David McKinley (2), Marco St. John (2) and Deji Olatoye (1).

The commitment to team play and balanced extended to other elements of the game. Eight different players scored, 8 had rebounds and 6 had assists. The non-starters played an important role and the Irish held a 22-10 advantage in bench points, which was important due to early foul trouble with the frontcourt.

McDougald was the only Irish player in double figures with 13, followed by Stamets with 9. It was a big night in the frontcourt as Olatoye (8), Jamare Mills (7), St. John (7) and Tyler Harrell (6) combined for 28 points. McKinley (6) and Duzan (2) rounded out the scoring.

Duzan and McKinley led with a game high 4 assists apiece. The other Irish players with assists were Mills (2), Stamets (2), McDougald (1) and Olatoye (1).

The balance extended to rebounding as well. Mills and Olatoye shared team high rebounding honors with 7 apiece. Others with rebounds were: McDougald (6), Duzan (3), Harrell (3), St. John (3), McKinley (2) and Stamets (2).

On the night, the Irish only had 7 turnovers with none in the first half. The Warhawks turned it over 19 times. The rebounding battle was tied 37-37. While the overall performance led to a victory, the Irish have some things to work on in practice. They only converted 10-23 free throws on the night and allowed the Warhawks to score 26 points in the fourth quarter. Many of these came on second chance opportunities or in transition.

The victory extends the Irish record to 11-0 in OCC Cardinal play and 15-1 overall heading into Friday’s game at Olentangy Liberty. The Warhawks, winners of 8 of 9 contests heading into the game on Tuesday, are 10-5 overall and 6-5 in league play. They will host Olentangy on Friday.