The Irish varsity took control midway through the second quarter and pulled away from the Columbus Linden-McKinley Panthers for a 69-45 non-league win.
Playing in the old North High School gym, scene of many classic Columbus City League battles until the late 1970s, Scioto shot a solid 50 percent from the field for the game and an impressive 80 percent from the free throw line. The Irish canned 24-30 free throws compared to Linden?s 4-10 performance.
The Panthers had a difficult time from the field as well, shooting only 35 percent for the game. The Irish held a 33-24 rebounding advantage.
It took the Irish a while to adjust to the small floor and low ceiling and they only led 15-9 after one quarter. Scioto?s pressure defense created numerous turnovers in the second quarter and yielded a 30-14 halftime lead.
They sealed the game on a pair of Ryan Duncan treys midway through the third quarter for a 40-18 lead. Both were created off dribble penetration with assists credited to Antonio Bisutti and Raneal Ewing.
Bisutti and Joshua Ashwill led the Irish with 13 points apiece. Gabe McGlone joined them in double figures with 10 points. Ewing (9), Duncan (9), Jalen Johnson (6), Justin Craig (4), Ryan Gibson (2), Aaron Strausbaugh (2) and Braxton Wallace (1) also scored. Ashwill (8) and Bisutti (7) led the Irish in rebounding. Bisutti and Ewing chipped in 4 assists, and, Duncan added 3.
Storm Patterson led the Panthers with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Scioto improves to 6-10 on the season and remains 3-8 in OCC Cardinal Division play. They're next in action with a tripleheader against league foe Olentangy Liberty. The Patriots won 52-45 in the first match-up.
Box Score
DS: Ashwill 4-3-13, Bisutti 2-9-13, McGlone 3-4-10, Duncan 3-0-9, Ewing 3-3-9, Johnson 3-0-6, Craig 1-2-4, Gibson 0-2-2, Straysbough 1-0-2, Wallace 0-1-1. 3-point goals: Duncan 3, Ashwill 2. Totals: 20-24-69.
LIND: Patterson 4-1-10, Edwards 3-0-7, Beard 2-1-6, Minnis 3-0-6, Floyd 1-2-5, Lindsey 2-0-4, Wells 1-0-3, Blackwell 1-0-2, Roberts 1-0-2. 3-point goals: Beard, Edwards, Floyd, Patterson, Wells. Totals: 18-4-45.
Free throws matter.
Case in point is the 11-12 performance from the JV Irish in the fourth quarter that allowed them to hang with and eventually beat the Linden-McKinley Panthers 52-47.
The Irish trailed 43-39 midway through the final quarter, but free throws by Aaron Strausbaugh and Jack Flood sandwiched a Ryan Gibson lay-up to give the visitors a 45-43 advantage. Linden-McKinley responded and re-took the lead thanks to a put back and a lay-up.
Braxton Wallace tied it back up with a pair of free throws with 1:17 to go and following a Panthers turnover Gibson nailed two more free throws to give the Irish a 49-47 lead.
Another turnover forced the Panthers to foul Gibson and he calmly sank two more free throws with 15 seconds to go that gave the Irish a 51-47 lead. Strausbaugh split a pair of free throws to close out the scoring.
Gibson led the Irish with 14 points. Joining him in double figures were Strausbaugh (12) and Wallace (10).Also scoring were Dominic Madison (7), Abdul Abdullahi (5) and Flood (4).