By Matt Turer — @MattTurer
mturer@ky3.com
Strafford, Mo. — From the looks of things, all those gravy-covered Thanksgiving plates did Springfield Catholic some good. One week after a 17-point loss to open the season at Mountain Grove, the Irish poured it on thick over Aurora Tuesday night in a win at the Strafford Invitational, 62-29.
The Irish (1-1) shutdown Aurora (1-2) throughout on the defensive end, limiting them to single-digit points in three of four quarters, with the exception being a 10-point third quarter for the ‘Houn Dawgs.
AURORA VS. SPRINGFIELD CATHOLIC PHOTO GALLERY
On the other end, Catholic found its three-point stroke early behind sophomore guard Charlie O’Reilly, who hit two from beyond the arc in the first quarter, finishing with four threes plus a team-high 16 points.
“We were nervous in our opening game [at Mountain Grove],” Springfield Catholic head coach Tony Armstrong said. “Tonight, we just kind of got on a roll.”
Catholic led 12-5 through one quarter and 18-8 at the half. Ten of those points came from O’Reilly.
Irish sophomore guard Jake Branham and junior forward Brett Maes both finished with 11 points. Each hit a pair of threes. Sophomore forward Wallace Squibb scored nine.
Aurora was bothered inside by Springfield Catholic’s size, finding little space against Tyson Riley, Squibb, Michael Manzardo and Ian Cochran.
“We’ve got four guys where if they’re making shots, we can score,” Armstrong said. “Then we’ve got some size inside.”
Matt Miller led Aurora with 11 points. Miller was limited to one field goal in the second half. Clayton Dunning hit a pair of threes for Aurora, finishing with six.
Springfield Catholic outscored Aurora 32-16 in the second half.
“I think we have a chance to be pretty good offensively,” Armstrong said. “But we guarded well tonight too. I was more happy about that. I’m not as concerned about us offensively.”
Marshfield 56, East Newton 23
Marshfield overcame a slow start in the opening game of Tuesday night’s Strafford Invitational, scoring the game’s first bucket nearly halfway through the first quarter on its way to a 22-8 halftime lead over East Newton (0-2).
The Blue Jays (1-2) found success in the paint, penetrating East Newton’s interior defense and pouring on 33 second-half points in its 56-23 win.
MARSHFIELD VS. EAST NEWTON PHOTO GALLERY
Marshfield sophomore guard Austin Porter led all scorers with 15 points, scoring nine in the second half. Senior guard Jarrett Paoni finished with 10 points. Sophomores Triston Letterman and Trenton Kanengeiter finished with eight points. All of Kanengeiter’s points came in the first half.
East Newton senior Coleman Booker led the Patriots with seven points. Junior Dustin McDermott finished with five points.
Marshfield’s win followed losses to Salem and Strafford that came by a combined three points.
