IRISH LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FLOOR IN 54-53 OT LOSS

Playing with the resolve that led them to a school-record 24 victories and further in the tournament than any previous Scioto team had gone, the Irish battled to the final buzzer but came up short in a 54-53 overtime loss to Columbus Northland in a regional final on Saturday night.

The #1 state-ranked Vikings advance to the state semi-finals on Friday where they will play Cleveland Region champion Warren Harding. The other semi-final will feature Toledo St. John’s Jesuit and Cincinnati Princeton, with the winners playing on Saturday night.

In what can be compared to a classic heavyweight fight, Scioto and Northland went back and forth all night long. Neither team won a quarter or the OT period by more than 3 points.

In the first half, the Irish were able to hold the Vikings to a standstill on the boards – with each team picking up 12. Both teams defended well, but the Irish showed a little more patience and finished the half shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Each team had only 3 turnovers.

This gave the Irish a 23-19 lead at the break. Bradley McDougald, who carried the Irish on the offensive end all night, had 12 of his game high 32 points at the half. Marco St. John had 9 points and 5 rebounds in the first half. Eric Stamets had the other bucket for the Irish.

Scioto was able to build the lead to 31-23 midway through the third quarter, but ended up going cold from the field. The Vikings went on a mini-run to close the gap to 34-31 at the end of the quarter.

They regained the lead at 39-38 and eventually led 43-38 before the Irish clawed back into it. Northland missed just enough free throws down the stretch to give Scioto a chance.

And, McDougald hit a baseline trey as the clock wound down to tie the score at 45. Jared Sullinger missed a long trey at the buzzer and the teams headed to overtime.

Northland got the overtime tip and the Irish defense held strong for about a minute, before an overplay of a pass led to a drive by JD Weatherspoon for a bucket and foul. He missed the free throw, but Sullinger rebounded the Irish miss and on the other end rebounded his own miss and scored.

Following another Irish miss, the team had to foul and when Trey Burke hit a pair of free throws the Vikings had a 51-45 lead with 30 seconds.

McDougald cut it to 51-48 on a long jumper out top and hit another trey after Burke split a pair of free throws. This left the scored at 52-51.

The Irish fouled Burke again and the sophomore hit both free throws for a 54-51 lead.

With only 5.5 seconds on the clock, the Irish quickly inbounded the ball to McDougald who dribbled up court without pressure. He launched a 24 foot trey that sailed a bit long and Eric Stamets had a rebound and put back just before the buzzer for the final margin of 54-53.

Exhausted by the battle, McDougald fell to the ground. As it has been all season, he was joined by several senior teammates who helped him up and embraced him.

It was a tough ending for a team that stuck together all season long with a goal of getting to the Schottenstein Center. More will be written about this group of seniors – Bradley, David, Deji, Destin, Eric, Jason, Marco, Rainer and Tyler – later, but it was a great ride.

The Irish enjoyed great fan support at the Coliseum, including a large and active student section which cheered loudly as the team received its regional runner-up trophy.

The Irish were only 10-35 in the second half and overtime, but made 6-15 three-point attempts.

Northland was 13-25 from the field in the second half and overtime with many points coming on second chances. They outrebounded the Irish 25-17 in the second half.

In addition to McDougald’s 32 points, other Irish players in the scoring column were: Marco St. John (9), Eric Stamets (4), David McKinley (3), Tyler Harrell (2),Deji Olatoye (2) and Rainer Duzan (1).

St. John led the Irish with 7 rebounds, and Olatoye had 6. Duzan, McDougald and McKinley had 2 assists each. McKinley led the Irish with 2 steals.

Sullinger led the Vikings with 17 points and a game high 22 rebounds. JD Weatherspoon scored 15 points and had 9 rebounds. Burke chipped in 15 points.