RICH KELLY
ASHTABULA — Coming off a double-overtime loss to Youngstown Christian, SJP coach Nick Iarocci felt his girls were playing their best basketball of the season, and thought they would put up a good show in scoring Wednesday night as they hosted the Wickliffe Blue Devils.
But the visitors controlled the backboards for much of the game and never let the Heralds start anything close to a scoring run as they knocked off the Heralds, 29-16.
“I felt coming in that after our last loss, the double-OT game with Youngstown Christian, that we were doing a good job of moving the ball around and getting shots we wanted,” SJP coach Nick Iarocci said. “We did tonight, too, many times, but we’re offensively challenged and didn’t put the ball into the basket. It’s that simple. They played that 1-2-2 zone and basically dared us to make outside shots, and we didn’t.”
The Heralds were definitely cold from the field, hitting just six hoops in 37 tries (16.2 percent). One thing consistent for the Heralds, though, is their effort.
“We may not score much, but our girls have made so many great strides in playing the game this year,” Iarocci said. “We’re playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played. We just don’t score much.”
They did play some solid defense, forcing 30 Blue Devil turnovers, matching the SJP total for the game, while holding Wickliffe (4-9, 1-3 in CVC Metro) to just 13 hoops in 43 tries for 30.2 percent. But with Katy Burkett and Michelle Watiyasic controlling the boards early and getting several putbacks to score, a 9-1 first-period lead proved to be insurmountable for SJP.
Wickliffe coach Vince Granito felt his girls played well, and was impressed with the Heralds as well.
“Our half-court defense is our strong point,” he said. “We got skittish against their pressure in the second half a bit, as we normally do, but I told the girls before the game if we could outrebound them, I felt we could win the game.
“I saw (SJP) against Beachwood and they have gotten so much better since then, proving he’s doing a fine job of coaching.”
Burkett was the only double-digit scorer with 10 points, matching her total in rebounding as well. Nicole Gallo tallied six for SJP and Kristina Gallo added five and led her team with seven rebounds.
Kelly is a freelance writer from Jefferson.
