AKRON, Ohio- The Stow Bulldogs pushed the St. Vincent St. Mary Fighting Irish to the brink. The Fighting Irish did their best to contain Reese Raymond Smith and Cam Marconi, who scored a combined 40 points. They allowed only allowed three other Bulldogs to score on the night. St. Vincent St. Mary did a fantastic job sharing the ball tonight, having five players score seven or more points. DeCarlo Prince led the team with 15 points, while Rayshawn Hamilton added another 10 points.
The Fighting Irish walked away with a 59-58 win, which featured Stow making 13 threes, Reese Raymond Smith's scoring 25 points and a fourth-quarter comeback that was nearly successful until an ending that left Cam Marconi wishing he had one more chance.
"A lot to learn, some things we need to do better. You know, we made some bonehead fouls. We took some bad shots. You know we can't do that man," said Joyce II. "We were up by 10 and knew they were a good team and would make a run. But you don't help them out by making some fouls. You know, I thought we overreacted; we started to panic, and you can't panic. What you gotta do is settle down, get a bucket to end the run."
Both teams came out hot to start the game. Stow held a 21-17 lead at the end of the first quarter after going back and forth with the Fighting Irish. The Bulldogs went up 33-27 on the Fighting Irish before St. Vincent St. Mary went on an 8-0 run to close out the half.
St. Vincent St. Mary opened up the second half on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 42-33. The Fighting Irish did what they did best all season, forcing their opponent into an uphill climb for the rest of the game.
The Fighting Irish have held the lead in multiple games and lost it in the final minutes. St. They almost lost a lead again tonight in the final seconds. Stow made it 59-56 with 30 seconds left and got the ball back. Coach Close used their last timeout, which would become costly in the end after Cam Marconi opted for a layup with four seconds left. Michael Walter held onto the ball before inbounding it as time expired.
"The great thing about high school basketball for us tonight was the clock doesn't stop. Michael Walter understood well enough that he didn't need to inbound, and that's what he did," said Joyce II.
The St. Vincent St. Mary Fighting Irish will host Westerville North on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m. Coach Joyce II and his team hope to build off this win in the season's final stretch.
The Stow Bulldogs will travel to Twinsburg on Friday, Feb. 2, as they look to end their three-game losing streak. Tip-off will take place at 7:30 p.m.