Junior Ty Quarles (13) and senior Da'von Wiley led Ireton with 13 points in the loss to PVI Sunday.
When Bishop Ireton (12-8, 3-7) led the heavily favored Paul VI (15-5, 7-3) for more than three quarters of their first meeting in Fairfax, some observers thought the home team may have overlooked the Cardinals before pulling out a win to open the WCAC campaign in December. The Cardinals knew better and, with a three-point bucket early in the 4th quarter by Wynn Miller, the Panthers were again in a fight, leading only 46-45. But give the visiting Panthers credit, they made plays down the stretch and held on to a 60-52 win in Godley Gym Sunday.
“We played well. They are a very good basketball team.” said Ireton’s head coach, Neil Berkman. “We were right there, down one in the middle of the 4th quarter. I can’t fault the effort from our guys.”
Paul VI broke on top early and junior Patrick Moseh carried the Cardinals out of the gate, scoring the team’s first 5 points to keep Ireton close. Ty Quarles made a pair of free throws and the Cardinals grabbed a 7-6 lead early. The lead see-sawed briefly before the Panthers ended the first quarter on an 8-2 run for a 17-11 advantage.
The second quarter saw the Panthers open an 11-point lead when Marcus Derrickson grabbed an offensive rebound and gave PVI a 29-18 bulge. Junior Ty Quarles, who scored 13 on the day, led the Ireton counterattack with a jumper then drained a pair of free throws. Pat Moseh added a deuce and suddenly the redbirds had closed the deficit to 29-24. But Derrickson would again plague the home team as he calmly tossed in a three-ball as time expired in the first half, sending the Panthers to the dressing room up 32-24.
Juniors Dan Noe and Quarles opened the second half with baskets, senior Da’von Wiley hit a jumper, and the lead melted to 34-30. The teams continued their struggle through the third period, PVI entering the game’s final stanza with a six point lead at 43-37.
Quarles again took the spotlight, dropping a crowd-pleasing three to pull Ireton to 43-40, then, following a Tyler Scanlon free throw, Noe answered with a jumper and Ireton drew within 44-42. Evan Taylor responded with a bucket before Wynn Miller countered with a three from the corner and Ireton trailed 46-45 with five and half minutes remaining. PVI’s Glen Farello called a time out and the Panthers regrouped. The visitors scored, the Cardinals, with a pair of Wiley free throws, responded. The teams traded baskets until Franklin Howard’s three gave the Fairfax school some breathing room at 53-49.
Moseh again closed the gap with a pair on the charity stripe, then the teams went into a cold streak, ended with another PVI three, followed by a free throws from Jamall Robinson, and suddenly the clock was racing away the margin had grown suddenly to 58-51. Free throws, one by Ireton’s Moseh, two by Kevin Dorsey marked the game’s final tallies and the Panthers would improve to 7-3 in the WCAC while the Cardinals dropped their 5th straight after a 3-2 start in conference play.
Derrickson’s 16 points for the Panthers led all scorers, Howard added 12, Dorsey 9 for the victors. Quarles and Wiley scored 13 each to lead Ireton, Moseh had 9, Louie Khouri 7 as did Noe, and Miller’s three rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals. The home team was deadly from the charity line, converting 14 of 16 free throws, but the visitors hit also shot well at 11 of 14. While Ireton held a 4-3 advantage in three-point goals, the 6 more field goals overall was the difference in the game offensively.
St John’s visits Godley Gym Tuesday for the second game of the conference schedule. Ireton visited Gallagher Gym ranked #14 in the Washington Post for the first meeting of the year and the Cadets stormed the court when the Chevy Chase school upended the Cardinals 61-56. The tripleheader starts with freshmen at 4pm, JV at 5:45, and the scheduled varsity tipoff is slated for 7:30.
Processing your request, Please wait....
