»RELATED: Friday’s high school scoreboard
»RELATED: Friday’s high school roundup
Earlier this month, the Tigers lead in the final eight minutes against Ohio Heritage Conference North Division foes Fairbanks and West Jefferson, but lost each game by two points — which made their 57-50 win against the Irish even sweeter.
Nick Burden had 16 points, Matthew Loffing had 13 points and Holden Neese added 12 for the Tigers, who improved to 6-3 and 4-2 in the OHC North. West Liberty-Salem has won three straight since dropping back-to-back games.
The Tigers shot 19-for-22 from the free throw line, including 10-for-13 in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve had several close games where we didn’t quite finish it off at the end,” said West Liberty-Salem coach Darrin Leichty. “For our guys to step up and make free throws, it was huge for us. … We just have a group of guys who went out and made plays tonight. It’s a big step forward for us.”
Mykah Eichie had 15 points, Sabien Doolittle added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Peyton Harris scored 10 for the Irish, who fell to 8-1 and 5-1 in the OHC South Division.
The Tigers used a fast transition offense to jump out to an early 10-2 lead in the first quarter. Catholic Central fought back to tie the score at 14 early in the second quarter, but the Tigers went on another run to take a 26-18 lead into the break.
The Irish tied the score twice in the third quarter, but never took the lead. A 3-pointer by Loffing with 4:45 remaining gave West Liberty-Salem a 45-38 lead.
A putback by Harris with about 20 seconds remaining made it a one-possession game, but the Irish wouldn’t get any closer.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Leichty said. “The crowd was loud and it was a great atmosphere. Catholic Central played really stinking hard. It was a great game.”
The Irish struggled shooting the basketball, making 37.7 percent from the field, including 14.3 percent from the 3-point line. They also had an off-night at the free throw line, shooting 8-for-15 for 53.5 percent.
“That’s going to happen,” said Irish coach Cody Sarensen. “You’re never going to be perfect every single game.”
The Irish also struggled on the defensive end of the floor, Sarensen said.
“We weren’t moving and our help side wasn’t there,” he said.
Every game in the OHC counts towards the division title, meaning a victory over the first-place team in the South Division was key for the Tigers, Leichty said. They’ll be rooting for Catholic Central in the coming weeks against both Fairbanks and West Jefferson, he said.
“We’re hoping they can do some damage and help us get back into the hunt again,” Leichty said.
The Irish will learn from the tough loss, especially on the defensive end of the floor, Sarensen said.
“We always tell our teams you can really tell how good a team is when they face adversity,” he said. “This is adversity for us. … We’ve got to get better mentally and on defense. We’re going to come in (Saturday) and get to work.”
Catholic Central was also mourning the loss of former teammate Cosmas "Cossy" Catanzaro , a sophomore on the Wittenberg University football team who tragically passed away earlier in the day. The school held a moment of silence before the game. He played with the current senior class when they were sophomores two seasons ago.
“It’s tough,” Sarensen said. “Cossy was a great kid. He played baseball, basketball and football and every coach loved him. All of his teammates loved him. It’s tough. I’m sure it had an effect on the boys. We definitely want to make sure we pay our respects to his family because he certainly meant a lot to this program and the whole community.”
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