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Central’s new defense leads to huge 25-point victory over Edison

LOOKING UP — Steubenville Catholic Central’s Luca Connor attempts a layup past Edison’s Isaac Schmitz on Tuesday. (Photo by Joe Catullo)

STEUBENVILLE — Steubenville Catholic Central got its motor running during the second quarter and cruised to an 83-58 victory over Edison on Tuesday inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

Up 19-11 after the opening eight minutes, the Crusaders, thanks to offensive explosions by Donnie Vandeborne and Matt Kilonsky, along with some defensive pressure, outscored the Wildcats 26-10 in the second to lead 45-21 at the break.

Vandeborne accounted for 10 of Central’s points, while Kilonsky added eight. He drained a pair of triples, one coming off a nifty Vandeborne assist. Meanwhile, Central’s switch from its usual man-to-man defense to a 1-2-2 half court trap caused all sorts of issues for the Wildcats. Edison was guilty of six turnovers during the frame.

“We came out in our man defense, and we just seemed to be playing a little slow,” Central head coach Chris Tarquinio said after watching his Crusaders improve to 8-5. “We called a timeout and made the move to our 1-2-2. The guys wanted to get into it, and they did a great job of creating some pressure and getting us moving.”

As Vandeborne said, Central’s been working on the zone D a lot recently in practice.

“We were looking to get some steals and push the ball,” the Crusader senior said. “I thought we did a good job creating some offense with our defense.”

A.J. Connor took over the scoring load for Central in the third quarter, knocking down six jumpers as the hosts extended their lead to 65-37.

Vandeborne led the Crusaders in scoring with 17. He completed his double-double by snaring 11 rebounds. In addition, he recorded a team-high five assists. A.J. Connor finished with 16, Kilonsky 15 and Josh Costello 10.

“I’ve been saying from day one when you have two guys like Donnie and A.J., you know what to expect,” Tarquinio said. “The key for us lately has been the contributions we are receiving from some of our other guys. We challenged our guys, and they’ve been stepping up. We’ve had some scoring balance, and we had it again tonight.

“Matt (Kilonsky) has been playing really well for us lately. He’s come a long way since game one. He runs our offense very well. He really takes a lot of pressure off Donnie and A.J., and that helps open things up for them. I’m really proud of how far he’s come and how hard he works.”

Luca Connor added eight for Central, which is ranked fourth in this week’s OVAC Class 2A standings, and Jake Stoll seven. Ten Crusaders dented the scoring column in the victory.

“We played well as a team,” Vandeborne said. “Matt continued to contribute a lot, and Josh (Costello) came off the bench and provided a spark like he always does. Geno (DiBiase), Luca and Jake all took care of their roles and that’s important for us.”

Edison, which fell to 3-10, received 11 points from Anthony Sinicropi and 10 from Alec McBane. Issac Schmitz and Andrew Pugh evenly divided 16. Schmitz led the Wildcats in rebounding and assists.

“We started the way we wanted, but when you get in foul trouble early and you’re not very deep, you have some issues,” Edison coach Nate Moses said. “We didn’t move our feet well on the defensive end, and we were getting beat off the first dribble. Defensively, we’re not right now and we have to get better.

“They went to the 1-2-2, and our guards were forcing things, not relaxing. It was almost like they had a hot potato in their hands, and they just wanted to give it to someone else. We keep telling them they’re not young anymore. We’re halfway through the season. We just have to get back in the gym, continue to work on those things and continue to get better.”

The Wildcats are back in action Friday, visiting Harrison Central.

Tarquinio said qualifying for the OVAC final four “is always a goal but we can’t look ahead.”

“We have Wheeling Central coming here today, and we will be ready for the challenge,” he said.

As Vandeborne put it, “you have to play the best if you want to be best. We’re looking forward to it.”

Game notes:

¯ Vince Carapellotti registered a game-high 15 points as Central collected a 56-42 win in the junior varsity contest. Michael Rook added 10 for the winners. Brennan Scott, Alex Mayle and Tyler Shrieve had six apiece for Edison.

Catholic Central 83, Edison 58

Edison 11-10-16-21 — 58

Central 19-26-20-18 — 83

EDISON (3-10): Sinicropi 4 1-2 11; Clifton 1 2-2 4; Boyd 0 0-0 0; Schmitz 2 3-4 8; Scott 0 0-0 0; Kinney 2 1-2 5; Mayle 1 0-0 2; Fluharty 0 0-0 0; Shrieve 0 1-2 1; McBane 4 1-3 10; Pugh 3 1-4 8; Hyndman 2 2-2 6; Hanchin 1 1-1 3. TOTALS: 20 13-22 58.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (8-5): L. Connor 2 2-4 8; A.J. Connor 8 0-0 16; Gorman 2 0-0 4; DiBiase 1 0-0 2; J. Rook 1 0-0 2; Maragos 0 0-0 0; Carapellotti 1 0-0 2; M. Rook 0 0-0 0; Kilonsky 5 2-2 15; Vandeborne 7 3-7 17; Costello 3 4-5 10; Stoll 3 1-2 7. TOTALS 33 12-20 83.

3-POINT GOALS: Edison (Sinicropi 2, Schmitz, McBane, Pugh); Catholic Central (Kilonsky 3, L. Connor 2); REBOUNDS: Edison 28 (Schmitz 5); Catholic Central 35 (Vandeborne 11); ASSISTS: Edison 10 (Schmitz 5); Catholic Central 14 (Vandeborne 5); TURNOVERS: Edison 15; Catholic Central 9.

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