Ursuline captures first district championship since 2017
Irish hold off NDCL 61-44
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WARREN -- Before every game this season, one thing has been in the back of Ursuline senior Geno Lucente's mind -- his late grandmother, who passed away a few months ago.
"I play for her every game," Lucente said. "Before every game, I think about her and I pray to her."
With his grandmother in his heart and in his mind, Lucente played one of his best games of the season in Saturday's Division II, Northeast 1 district final, leading the Fighting Irish with 22 points, as Ursuline held off Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin 61-44 at Warren G. Harding High School.
"She was Geno's biggest fan," Irish head coach Keith Gunther said of Lucente's grandmother. "When she passed away, I texted Geno's mom and I said we're going to win the district and I'm going to dedicate it to your family and your mother. She enjoyed watching Geno so much. He played unbelievable, so I know she's looking down upon him proud. I'm just glad I was able to come through with what I said."
It was Ursuline's first district championship since 2017, which was the last of a streak of four straight district titles for the Irish.
Ursuline came up just short as the No. 1 seed last year, falling in the district final to Gates Mills Gilmour Academy. But this year, as the No. 2 seed, the Irish were able to finally get over the hump for the first time in seven years.
"There's been twice where there's been a four or five year gap. But then you know what happened after those gaps? We won four in a row from 2013-2017," Gunther said of Ursuline's district championships during his coaching tenure. "Now you know what I want to do for the next four years."
From the opening tip, Lucente was relentless. Whenever Ursuline needed a basket, especially in the first half, he was there to deliver.
Lucente hit his first three shots and shot 6-for-8 from the floor in the first half. Twelve of his 22 points came before halftime.
"My teammates found me open and we just kept pushing in transition for easy buckets," Lucente said.
But the Lions were able to maintain an advantage on the glass early on, which led to second-chance baskets. That allowed NDCL to keep things close.
At one point in the second quarter, Ursuline had built an 11-point lead, but a Lions run closed the deficit to five by the intermission.
"When we went in at halftime, I didn't see what I saw last year," Gunther said. "(Last year), we were tied at halftime and I saw the look on their faces and they were kind of shell-shocked. This time, we were up five and we were positive. I told them all they have to do is get a little smarter. Get the ball into (Geno) and Jaden and let some guys make some plays."
NDCL's Connor Hernan was bothering Ursuline with his play in the post, while Jaxon Mangelluzzi was able to provide a spark off the bench for the Lions with a pair of threes and 10 points off the bench in the first half.
But then, the Irish ratcheted up their defense.
After NDCL had scored 16 and 12 points in the first two quarters, the Lions were only able to muster nine and seven points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Both Hernan and Mangelluzzi were scoreless in the second half, as Ursuline limited the Lions to 31.8% shooting after halftime. For the game, NDCL shot just 35.8% from the floor.
"They were blowing by in man-to-man, so we went to a matchup zone, and that stopped the penetration," Gunther said. "So they couldn't score a lot of points after that and then we (started) clearing the glass. I thought the other thing that hurt us in the first half was those two big kids just kicked our behinds on the glass. My fear was that if we went zone that we wouldn't get bodies on them. But I thought in the second half, even when they missed it, I thought Jaden (Payne) just went and got it."
As Ursuline's defense picked up in the second half, so did the offense, as Lucente and fellow senior Payne dominated in the post. Payne scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half for the Irish.
"That's how it should be. You should be led by your seniors," Gunther said. "I thought Jaden was unbelievable. He was tough around the basket down the stretch. He got all the rebounds, was blocking shots, changing shots. But I thought Geno just played at another level tonight. His rebounding, his scoring, his leadership -- when he dove for the loose ball (in the first half), it just set the tone for how we were going to play and how we were going to finish.
"He made so many winning plays down the stretch and you need that from your seniors."
With the district championship in its pocket now, Ursuline sets its sights on the Division II northeast regional next week. The Irish will face Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
"This year, I want us to try to make a significant run, I really do," Gunther said. "I think we're really good. I think we have a chance to make some noise through the regional. And if we can get out of the regional, I feel like we can make noise at state."
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