Boys Basketball: Division I regional semifinal

Dublin Scioto 68, Cincinnati St. Xavier 49

Irish pass another postseason test

Wednesday,  March 18, 2009 10:24 PM

By SCOTT GERFEN

ThisWeek Contributor

Opponents have tested the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team with just about everything in the Division I tournament. The Irish knew Wednesday in a regional semifinal against Cincinnati St. Xavier they would have to neutralize the Bombers' size advantage.

"We know we're not the tallest team out there, but we're really physical," senior guard Bradley McDougald said. "We knew we were going to be undersized and we'd have to man up and play our game."

Scioto used its speed and hot shooting to eliminate one of last year's state final four teams in a 68-49 victory at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. It advances to play Northland or Grove City at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in a regional final.

The Irish made five 3-pointers in the first half to build a 27-19 halftime advantage. McDougald scored 10 of his 21 points in the first half and senior guard David McKinley hit four 3-pointers to add 12 of his 17 points.

"I got it going early," McKinley said. "They were playing that zone and extending it. Bradley and (Rainer Duzan) did a good job of finding me."

St. Xavier big man Erik Stenger (6-foot-7) scored eight points in the first quarter, but was held to nine the rest of the way.

The Bombers, who finished 15-10, were outrebounded 33-21.

"After that first quarter, we tweaked some matchups and tried to keep a fresh guy on Stenger," Scioto coach Tony Bisutti said. "He was hard to stop, but by keeping a fresh guy on him we might've wore him down a little bit."

In the third quarter, Scioto extended its lead to 48-26 with an 8-0 run.

"We've had some problems all year with extremely quick teams and we knew they played a very tough man-to-man defense," St. Xavier coach Scott Martin said. "We knew it was going to be height versus speed and speed won."