Catholic Central off to fast start

Coach says the 3-0 Irish are working well on offense.

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:20 PM Monday, December 12, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — The Catholic Central High School boys basketball team is off to a fast start this season.

The Irish are 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Heritage Conference.

Irish coach Dan Shay said his team is doing a great job finding high-percentage shots.

“We’re not settling for just the jump shot and the 3-pointer,” Shay said. “We’re working the ball around a lot and getting a lot of baskets on transitions. We’re definitely getting up and down the floor.”

Several different players have stepped for the Irish this season, including senior guards Brian Kelly (18 points per game) and Calum Latham (15.3 ppg) and junior Mark Ellis (10.3 ppg).

Latham, the state’s all-time leading scorer on the soccer field and a Xavier University soccer recruit, has had double-doubles in the last two Irish wins. He’s also averaging 8.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 5.7 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.

“He’s just everywhere,” Shay said. “He’s doing all the little things right.”

The Irish will be without senior Jake Aldridge, who is scheduled to have surgery today for a torn right meniscus suffered during the Irish’s playoff football game against Minster. He’s expected to miss three to six weeks.

Shay said the rest of the team has done a great job picking up the slack.

“Everybody is really stepping up,” Shay said. “We’re playing 10 to 11 guys. We’re a lot deeper.”

The Irish travel to Northeastern at 7:30 tonight before hosting Southeastern on Friday and Greeneview next Tuesday.

“We’re definitely looking forward to it,” Shay said. “(Northeastern’s) athletic and they’ve got some kids who can play.”

New additions: Tyler Bruntz and Kyle Combs, both of whom moved into Greeneview’s district, are making a big impact on the Rams through two games.

Bruntz, who played at Yellow Springs last season, is averaging 12.5 points per game for the Rams (1-1, 1-0 OHC) this season. He’s shooting 55.0 percent (10-for-18) from the field and an area-best 71.0 percent (5-for-7) from the 3-point line.

Combs, who played at Xenia last year, is averaging an area-best 5.5 assists per game for the Rams.

Getting to the line: Greenon (2-0, 1-0 Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division) has three players who’ve attempted double-digit free throws this season — Anthony Colletti (27), Cody Carpenter (16) and Josh Pilcher (11).

Colletti, who’s shooting 74.1 percent at the line, has shot 11 more free throws than any other player in the CBC. The Knights host Bellefontaine at 7:30 tonight.

Big game: Tecumseh (1-2, 1-0 CBC Kenton Trail) travels to Urbana (2-0, 1-0 CBC Mad River) in a key crossover division matchup tonight at 7:30.

After beating Tippecanoe in a thriller last Friday, the Arrows struggled in a 46-27 loss to Butler.

They’ll look to bounce back against an Urbana squad which beat Northeastern and Northwestern by an average of 21 points.

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