YOUNGTOWN — Howland’s contest at Ursuline was a mid-December showdown between two of the area’s better teams and seniors, and it was everything it was expected to be.
Lily Scott and Alyssa Masucci went head-to-head with their respective teams and clocked up big time, but when the dust settled, the Tigers won 52-50 in a hard-fought, foul-filled game.
Howland (4-1) trailed 48-40 with 5:06 left, but a ton of clutch defense and key buckets helped the Tigers overcome and emerge victorious. Contributed.
Masic made 21 of his team’s final shots, while Scott made 28 with four 3-pointers for host Ireland.
“Lily Scott is a stallion. You can tell her dad is her coach. All her credit goes to her, but she’s fun to watch. She and Masucci opened the show tonight. .” Howland coach Aaron Pounds said. “There were no major changes to the game plan. We decided to go full-court man-to-man. We were a little hesitant to do that because a lot of coaches say this court is bigger than other courts.
“We’re down by eight points with just over three minutes left, so what do we have to lose? The girls responded and this is what happened. Alyssa sometimes misses five shots in a row, but the next time she gets the ball, The moment she does, she makes the shot. Her confidence never wavers.”
Masic scored the first five points of the game, helping pace Howland to a 19-14 lead at the end of the first period, and continued to score enough points to stay within striking distance of Ursulin.
In the middle of the third time, things changed. It started with a score from freshman Kennedy Carpenter, followed by a bucket soon after, followed by a three from Scott to give his team their first lead of the game. Brown, a sophomore in Brooklyn, kept up the pressure and took a pass from Scott under the basket for one to give him a 39-33 lead.
Masic’s 3-point shot and free throw in front of the Tigers’ bench ended the game at 40 points, heading into the fourth period.
Ursuline (3-4) quickly put together a 6-0 run with efforts from Scott and Carpenter as the Fighting Irish began to find more success in the paint.
But in the final five minutes, Howland limited Ursuline to just two free throws. Masic started hitting shots at the charity line himself, then found fellow senior Gia Hoso open toward the top of the arc and nailed the trey to cut the lead to 48-46. Ta.
Scott’s last two free throws made it 50-47, but senior Jesse DeSalvo made a quick shot under the basket to cut it to 50-49. After the turnover, Howland held on to his chance for a one-point down with 47.7 seconds left.
Senior Mia Barish took a pass and blasted a shot to the basket, beating some tough defense Urslin threw up in the paint, and Howland regained the lead on the scoreboard and held the opposition at bay over the final 40 seconds. .
“I was open and I knew I had to take it. That really helped us win the game. We played good defense and didn’t give up a layup or three layups. I knew if I was going to foul, I shouldn’t give the opponent an and-1.” Barish said. “It gives us a lot of confidence and I think it really shows what we can do and never give up because we can always come back.”
add pounds, “We knew they were focused on Alyssa, so someone else had to take the lead, and (Barish) is another senior. We didn’t give her enough ball. No. Barish took the ball and carried it to the hole with force. She’s a great player as well. It’s important that we continue to use each other as teammates and continue to play as a team, that’s the most important thing.”
Thirteen of Masic’s team-high 21 points came in the second half.
“I feel like we kept going, just keeping each other positive and being more aggressive and attacking the ball and just playing good defense.” Masic said. “We definitely had to help defensively and follow the other team really well. I think we did a great job overall defensively and I really think that won the game.”
Howland is off to a 4-1 start for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.
“When we saw the ball go through the hoop at the end there, we definitely felt confident.” Masic said. “This feels really good. We need to keep getting better in practice and we can always improve everything. I’m proud of it.”
Complementing Masic’s performance was Barish with 10 points and Holo added 7 points. Carpenter scored 11 points for Ursulin, and sophomore Carly Casey had six points on two 3-pointers.
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