Boys Basketball
Scioto's run ends in regional semi

Thursday, March 13, = 2008

SCOTT GERFEN<= /b>
Villager Contributor=

The Irish's Marco St. John grabs a rebound against South. Scioto ended the season 22-2.

Ben Ashwill (left) and South's Traevon Jac= kson battle for possession of the ball.

It didn't take long for Dublin Scioto High School boys basketb= all coach Tony Bisutti to figure out what type of game was unfolding in a Divis= ion I regional semifinal March 6 in the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

Even after the Irish rallied from a 12-point deficit in the se= cond half against Westerville South, they never were a patient group.

"That was the story of the night and all that credit goes= to them," said Bisutti, whose team eventually lost 55-49 and finished 22-2 overall. "They took us out of what we wanted to do, which we knew they were really good at. They're a hot team playing well, and they just did a g= reat job out there. Our patience just wasn't good at all."

It was just the opposite for the Wildcats, who used a lineup h= eavy with guards to weather Scioto's comeback before falling to Newark 62-57 last Sunday in a regional final.

"We did a great job late in the ballgame making a couple = of plays that made the difference," said South coach Ed Calo, whose team finished 18-8 overall. "To their credit, they're a championship team. = We knew they weren't going to give up, and we knew it wasn't going to be easy."

The Wildcats used a 10-0 run to take a 12-point lead in the th= ird quarter. But Scioto used a strong defense to battle back.

Kyle Duncan hit two consecutive 3-pointers to cut South's lead= to 47-45 with 3:27 to play. Ben Ashwill's two free throws tied the game at 47 = with 1:30 left.

After a timeout, South guard Jason Davis used a spin move at t= he top of the key and hit a jump shot for the lead.

"It was a set play for me to attack the basket," Dav= is said. "I knew if the coach were to call on me I could step up and deli= ver. I was just waiting for him to give me the opportunity."

For Calo, it was the play his team needed. <= /p>
"They had the momentum, but I told our kids during the timeout that we were just one play away offensively and one play away defensively from taking that momentum back and we seemed to make those plays," he said.

Scioto lost its momentum after Ashwill rushed a jump shot on t= he next possession. From there, the Irish committed four turnovers and missed = three shots.

South made six of seven free throws in the finals 30 seconds. =

"We needed to keep our composure a little better than we did," Ashwill said. "They came out hard with their pressure and t= hey never let up. That's what you've got to do in a game like this. They did it= and we didn't."

Duncan, Blair Gorniak and David McKinley scored 12 points for Scioto, which was outrebounded 31-24.

Michael Fletcher led the Wildcats with 20 points. <= /span>

Scioto never had appeared in a regional semifinal until it kno= cked off Brookhaven 61-44 in a district final March 1. It was the program's first championship in four tries.

"I think they were a great example of a true team," Bisutti said. "Our season was great and I'm very proud of them all.&qu= ot;