Basketball

Irish boys hit hard by Jerome lo= ss

Wednesday,&n= bsp; January 13, 2010 1:07 PM

By SCOTT GERFEN

ThisWeek Contributor

As a young Dublin Scioto High Sc= hool boys basketball team entered the month of January, there were signs of progress.

Scioto earned its first win 35-3= 2 in overtime Dec. 29 over Cedar Grove (Atlanta, Ga.) in Gahanna's Columbus Christmas Classic.

Two days later, the Irish looked competitive against a strong German team Urspring Academy before falling 48-34.

Even in the 51-49 loss to Olentangy Liberty on Jan. 5 when Scioto trailed most = of the game, a fourth-quarter comeback came up short.

All that made last Friday's 75-32 loss at home to neighborhood foe and winless Dublin Jerome even more glarin= g.

"It's a major step back for us," said coach Tony Bisutti, whose team i= s 1-8 overall and 0-6 in the OCC-Cardinal Division heading into a league game Fri= day at Marysville. "We need to tap into our pride a little bit and I think= we did that in practice this week. I know they were embarrassed, but I'm still confident we can become a competitive team by the end of the season."<= o:p>

Playing without 6-foot-5 junior = post player Jamare Mills, the team's leading scorer = (11.2 points) and rebounder, didn't help the cause last Friday.

Mills has been bothered by a shoulder injury which dates back to last season.

His status is questionable for t= his week.

"I think the past two weeks we've shown that we're going to fight, but I know last Friday we looked our worst," Mills said. "I know we're going to have to get back to the basics, but we still believe the second half of the season can be different."

Statistics back up the Irish struggles.

Opponents are shooting 47 percent from the field, compared to Scioto's 36 percent. From 3-point range, oppone= nts were shooting 35 percent.

Without Mills in the lineup last Friday, the Irish were out-rebounded 38-22. Scioto's sophomore and freshman guards also have been troubled by pressure.

"We haven't responded well = to half-court traps," Bisutti said. "Like years past, we don't have a guy who can just put down his head and get thro= ugh it. We have to put everybody in the right spots for things to work."

The Irish travel to Marysville Friday where they'll face another opponent at the bottom of the league standings.

The Monarchs were 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Cardinal Division following last Friday's 75-51 loss to once-bea= ten Westerville North.

League victories have been sparse for Marysville after it finished 5-5 in the OCC-Capital in 2003-04.

Last season, it was 0-14 the realigned OCC-Cardinal.

In the four previous seasons, the Monarchs were a combined 10-30.

Scioto won both meetings last se= ason (69-31 and 77-40).

The Irish will look to stop Marysville 6-6 senior forward Mike Romesburg, a versatile shooter who can score inside and on the perimeter.

On Tuesday, Scioto is host to St. Charles, which was 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the CCL before playing Westerville Central last Tuesday.

"The good thing is that we = know we're not even close and we're going to have to work hard to get that much better," Mills said.