Boys Basketball

Dublin Scioto 60, Dublin Jerome 53

Irish use 3-point accuracy to get past Celtics

Friday,  January 9, 2009 10:21 PM

By SCOTT GERFEN

ThisWeek Contributor

Fueled by a barrage of 3-pointers in the first half, the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team remained atop the OCC-Cardinal Division with a 60-53 victory Friday at Dublin Jerome.

The Irish were 8-for-10 from 3-point range and were led by guard David McKinley, who finished with 17 points and five 3-pointers. He made three in the first quarter.

Scioto shot 50 percent from the field.

"We'd been hitting all week in practice and it just felt good," said Rainer Duzan, who added 11 points behind Deji Oletoye with 13. "Obviously, playing Jerome helps because it motivated us a little more. We had a lot of hustle plays, too."

Improving to 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the league, the Irish were able to build a 37-19 halftime lead by outscoring the Celtics 23-7 in the second quarter.

If anything looked troubling for the offense, Scioto was just 14-for-24 from the line.

"Who would've thought out of us the way we'd been lighting it up?" Scioto coach Tony Bisutti said. "It hasn't exactly been our strength. When you've got the right guys shooting at the right time sometimes that happens and we got on a bit of a roll there."

Jerome, which dropped to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the league, was able to put together a number of mini-runs in the second half when guard Cam Wilson scored 10 of his 12 points.

The Celtics outscored Scioto 20-12 in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 53-43 with about 3 minutes, 30 seconds left.

Nick Neale hit a 3-pointer just before time ran out.

"They came out like the experienced team that they are with senior leadership," Jerome coach Chris Carlisle said. "I was real proud of our guys that they didn't roll over. They played a great second half. We did some good things and started to show that we can compete at that level."