Rasile sets state mark, but Bristol wins
McDonald star nails 330th 3-pointer in classic game
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By BRIAN YAUGER
Tribune Chronicle
BRISTOLVILLE -- It was a record-setting night in front of a packed house for McDonald star Zach Rasile, but it was overshadowed by the Bristol Panthers who defeated McDonald, 64-60, Friday night.
"That was a classic, unbelievably fun Division IV northeast Ohio game," Panthers coach Craig Giesy said. "That's what it's all about. Two schools that battle, play hard, and have good scorers on both ends.
"I told the kids before the game yesterday, 'After we got our game plan in, it's no longer up to the coaches. We got everything we want in, we're not going to be coaching much during the game. During the game it's going to be on you executing it.' Communication was the best it's been all year tonight. It was fun."
With about a minute left in the first quarter, Rasile made his 330th career 3-pointer to break the state record he had tied Friday night against Sebring. But Rasile scored only 12 points on the night and the record-breaker was the only one he made from behind the arc. The Panthers had Rasile locked down for the majority of the game.
"My guys did an unbelievable job of knowing where Zach was at all times," Giesy said. "Obviously, Zach is one of the best shooters in Ohio history and Damion Durst did an unbelievable job chasing him around, and the rest of the guys knew where he was at all times."
Jake Portolese scored a career-high 23 points on the night. Getting someone other than Rasile to score was a big part of Giesy's game plan going in.
"He (Rasile) is averaging 40," Giesy said. We've never coached against anyone that's averaged 40 before. We wanted to try and make someone else beat us in that situation. Some of their other guys stepped up for them. Portolese had a big game for them, but we were happy with how they played on Zach tonight."
Bristol has its own prolific scorer in Gage Elza. Elza scored 17 points, just shy of leading scorer on the night, Matt Church with 18 points.
McDonald dominated the first quarter, leading 16-5, but Bristol stormed back in the second, outscoring the Blue Devils by 11. McDonald coach Jeff Rasile said the second quarter is what lost them the game.
"The first quarter we owned," he said. "They were triple teaming Zach everywhere he goes, which is fine. In the first quarter we were able to drive, get some easy opportunities. I thought in the second quarter we weren't able to make those easy opportunities."
The game came down to the wire with Elza sinking two free throws to open a four-point lead. McDonald quickly drove down the court to bring it within two. They regained possession right after, but lost the ball and fouled Matt Stephens who drained both free throws for Bristol's their final points.
"Couple mistakes here, couple mistakes there," Rasile said. "There were 10 seconds left, we had the ball and had the chance to win the game. We didn't make the play when we had to."
"It was a great game heading into the tournament," Giesy said. "These are the type of non-conference games that we're trying to schedule to prepare us for a tournament run.
"McDonald's been great year in and year out since Jeff (Rasile) has been there. It was a fun, tournament atmosphere, sold-out crowd, game leading into tournament time."