Irish prove who holds keys to Dublin kingdom

By BRIAN INGLIS

Published: Monday, December 31, 2007 6:06 PM EST

Blair Gorniak of Dublin Scioto goes toward the basket during= a 51-32
Irish win over visiting Dublin Coffman on Saturday, Dec. 29.

Leavi= ng little doubt as to who holds the City of Dublin hoops crown, the Dublin Sci= oto boys basketball team rose to the occasion and completed a sweep of its two sister programs during the holiday break.

Maintaining its unbeaten record, the Irish (8-0) survived a lethargic start= to stomp visiting Dublin Coffman 51-32 on Saturday, Dec. 29, in a heated affai= r in front of a large and boisterous contingent on both sides of the stands.

Down 10-9 after one quarter of action, Scioto buckled down on defense and failed to allow double figures in any quarter the rest of the way to stifle= the Shamrocks (5-3) and end up 2-0 against its nearest neighbors, Coffman and Dublin Jerome.

"That is a tough team to hold to 32 points," Irish coach Tony Bis= utti said. "Our defense was outstanding the entire game."

So much so that Coffman managed just 11 made field goals throughout regulation. Four of those came from three-point range, but the I= rish put the clamps on as the game progressed.

"We were giving up open shots, so we tightened it up in the second half," Scioto point guard Ben Ashwill said. "Obviously, they were= not making many open shots after that."

Meanwhile, Scioto stormed to the lead in the second quarter behind Ashwill, whose triple from the corner began a quick 7-0 spurt that yielded a 19-12 advantage. The Irish cushion was 22-15 at the break and Coffman never serio= usly threatened to turn the tide the rest of the way.

According to Shamrocks coach Jamey Collins, his charges were outgunned in t= erms of both effort and approach.

"When they got in the big game, they just executed better," Colli= ns said. "Any time that happens to you, it is disappointing."

Out of the locker rooms, Scioto asserted its will against a half-court pres= sure look from its rival. Kyle Duncan calmly drilled a trey to produce the first double-digit lead at 29-19 before Rainer Duzan converted in transition late= in the frame to produce an insurmountable 39-23 lead entering the fourth quart= er.

"This core of guys has had success against that type of trapping press, which has given plenty of teams a lot of trouble," Bisutti explained. "I think what solves a lot of those problems is having guys that are willing to make the extra pass."

If you ask Scioto forward Blair Gorniak, however, he felt like the Irish we= re on an even emotional keel despite the energetic atmosphere and constant chanting back-and-forth between the opposing student sections.

"We just had to keep up the intensity because we missed a lot of shots early," Gorniak acknowledged. "We then took advantage of our opportunities."

A physical presence inside, Gorniak finished with a game-high 11 points. He finished underneath to put the Irish up 49-26 in the later stages. It would= be the largest lead of the evening.

Also in double figures for Scioto were Ashwill and guard Bradley McDougald = with 11 apiece. Forward Michael Green led the Shamrocks with 10.

Afterward, though, Collins admitted that the short-lived Coffman advantage = in the first half was bound to be usurped by the more aggressive Irish.

"We were still running things the way we should have been at that point," Collins concluded. "We did have a slight lead, but you ju= st can't get away with what we were doing for a whole game."

Scioto plays at Watterson Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

The Shamrocks are at Marysville Friday, Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m.

"We just had to keep up the intensity because we missed a lot of shots early. We then took advantage of our opportunities."

--Blair Gorniak