IRISH CLINCH SHARE OF OCC TITLE IN 52-38 WIN AT LIBERTY

Outstanding defense in the middle quarters and efficient offense in the second quarter fueled a 52-38 win at Olentangy Liberty that clinched at least a share of the OCC Cardinal Division title for the Irish.

Scioto is now 12-0 in league play with two games to play. Second place Westerville South is 10-2 with the only losses thus far to the Irish.

Liberty came into this game with a lot of momentum and it was expected to be a tight, defensive struggle. They entered with four consecutive league wins and a full complement of players. The last times these teams met, the Patriots were missing three players from their regular rotation.

The game started as most expected with Liberty running clock in the half court offense trying to get baseline penetration and kick outs from the post. The score was tied 8-8 after the first quarter. The Irish only had three baskets – including two treys by David McKinley on assists from Bradley McDougald. The other score came on a nice backdoor feed from Deji Olatoye to Jamare Mills.

Liberty started the second quarter with a Box & 1 defense designed to keep McKinley from getting open looks from beyond the arc. This opened up other opportunities for the Irish and they showed great balance. Five different players scored in the second quarter.

McDougald picked up 7 points – with assists going to McKinley and Olatoye on all three baskets. Mills had another bucket, assisted by Marco St. John. Rainer Duzan had a strong drive to the basket in which he muscled in a left-handed lay-up in heavy traffic and Eric Stamets had a put back in which he out leaped taller Liberty post players. Duzan and Olatoye rounded out the scoring with a free throw a piece.

The other part of the story, though, was stifling Irish defense. They forced 10 first half turnovers and held Liberty to 22 percent shooting from the field. The 15-4 second quarter run gave the Irish a 23-12 halftime lead.

Liberty came out in the third quarter with additional intensity on defense and a few Irish turnovers short-circuited the offense a bit. The Irish were only able to put 7 points on the board, but they totally shut down the Patriots and led 30-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

Eight different Irish players dented the scoring column in the fourth quarter and the lead was extended to 49-30 with less than two minutes to go. Fourth quarter highlights for the Irish were a strong drive for a lay-up by Jason Reinick and an alley-oop dunk in transition by Mills on a feed by McKinley.

For the game, the Irish outshot Liberty 58 to 29 percent from the field. The Patriots had a 30-26 rebounding advantage, with 12 boards coming off the offensive glass. The Irish had a 26-12 advantage with points in the paint and 7 different players had assists.

McDougald led the Irish with 19 points, including 6-6 from the charity stripe. He also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Mills scored 9 points and had 3 rebounds and 2 assists. McKinley scored 8 points. He had 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds and 0 turnovers.

Other Irish players in the scorebook included: Duzan (5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), St. John (4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist), Stamets (2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal), Reinick (2 points), Tyler Harrell (1 point, 1 assist), Olatoye (1 point, 5 rebounds, 1 assist) and Destin Thomas (1 point).

The Irish are back in action next Friday night at home against Dublin Jerome. It will be Senior Night and the Irish will recognize 9 players and 3 cheerleaders in their last home game.