Playing before a loud Jerome crowd, the Irish trailed throughout eventually falling to Jerome by the score of 51-39.
Jerome led 14-8 after one quarter and 24-16 at the half. The difference in the first half was Jerome's offensive rebounding and second chance baskets, while the Irish were consistently limited to one shot attempt.
Jerome extended their lead to 42-26 after three quarters. Travis Yates came off the bench in the 2nd half and did a nice job on the boards, especially on the offensive end.
Ryan Duncan led the Irish scoring for the night with 10 points, including 9 in the final period on three 3-pointers. Raneal Ewing added 9, Justin Craig and Yates 5 each, Joshua Ashwill and Gabe McGlone 4 each, and Antonio Bisutti 2.
The Irish are now 3-6 on the year and 1-5 in the conference.
Box Score
DS: Duncan 3-1-10, Ewing 3-1-9, Craig 2-0-5, Yates 2-1-5, Ashwill 1-2-4, McGlone 2-0-4, Bisutti 1-0-2. 3-point goals: Duncan 3, Ewing 2, Craig. Totals: 14-5-39.
DJ: Neale 7-1-17, C. Wilson 5-2-12, Nesdore 4-3-12, Potter 2-0-4, Grubbs 2-0-4, D. Wilson 0-2-2. 3-point goals: Neale 2, Nesdore. Totals: 20-8-51.
The Irish JV trailed all night, except the one time that mattered, pulling out an incredible 43-42 victory when Aaron Strausbaugh sank the 2nd of 2 free throws with 6 tenths of a second remaining.
A furious comeback in the final moments began with Scioto trailing 40-33 and Jerome in possession of the ball. A Braxton Wallace steal led to a Chase Sult three to cut the lead to 40-36. The Irish still trailed 42-37 with 1:20 remaining when Ryan Gibson stole the ball and converted a 2 pointer. The Irish regained possession and missed a three pointer with 15 seconds remaining, however Strausbaugh snatched the rebound and kicked the ball out to Gibson who buried a three to tie the game 42-42 with 12 seconds remaining. After a missed Jerome basket, Strausbaugh grabbed the rebound and was intentionally fouled by a Jerome player who thought they were losing and had to foul. Strausbaugh missed the first, and Jerome called timeout to try and freeze him. However Strausbaugh calmly sank the 2nd free throw and the improbable comeback was complete.
The Irish trailed after each of the first 3 quarters, 10-5, 20-15 and 31-28.
Gibson led a balanced scoring attack with 11 points, including 10 in the final period. Dominic Madison added 9, Strausbaugh 8, Travis Yates 7, Sult 6 and Wallace 2.
The Irish freshmen picked up the intensity in the fourth quarter, but were not able to overcome a 13 point deficit and fell 45-41 at Jerome.
A slow start by Scioto allowed Jerome to score 15 points in the first quarter and build a 22-11 halftime lead. The Irish picked things up on the offensive end of the floor after halftime, but gave up too many easy baskets coming out of the break. They ended up trailing 38-25 at the end of the quarter.
Matt Messick led the Irish with 18 points, half of which came in the fourth quarter won by the Irish 16-7. Jack Flood had 9 points, with 7 coming in the second half. Also scoring for the Irish were Zac Brown (6), Darius McDonald (6) and Jack Schafer (2). Nate Axelrod had a game high 19 points for the Celtics and Connor Kerns joined him in double figures with 13.
The Irish are 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the OCC Cardinal. They play Marysville at home next Friday and travel to Grove City on Saturday morning for a non-league match-up.