Jibri Carter helps Cardinal Mooney boys basketball beat Central Catholic in OHSAA regional
CANTON — Too many 3-pointers. Too much Jibri Carter.
That was the was the unfortunate story for the Central Catholic boys basketball team as Cardinal Mooney pulled away late for a 66-52 win over the Crusaders in a Division III regional semifinal at Memorial Field House on Wednesday.
Carter hit three of Mooney's 13 3-pointers and scored a game-high 26 points to set the banquet table for the Cardinals. Carter scored 19 of hits points in the second half and helped Mooney outscore Central 22-12 in the fourth quarter to ensure a comfortable win.
"He had an awesome game for us," Mooney head coach Carey Palermo said. "The Northeast Inland District boys basketball team came out and they only had him as an honorable mention. I'm not sure what they have been watching. He should have been first team. He's a great leader and when we needed him to come through he did."
Three other Mooney players also scored in double figures. Rocco Turner had 14 points while Eddie Nieves and Ashton O'Brien scored 11 points each. Turner hit four 3-pointers, and Nieves and O'Brien made three each.
"They shot the heck out of the ball," Central head coach Matt Creamer said. "We came out and made some big shots but we just couldn't maintain it. We did what we could tonight. I think there are times where we didn't handle possessions well. We knew they were going to pressure us and we worked on it in practice, but it is hard to simulate. We were just a move behind at times."
Luke Vlacovsky hit three 3-pointers and scored a team-high 20 points for Central. Senior Gavin Layman made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points. Post Jonathan Stangl added 11 points for the Crusaders.
"Luke was the only starter back from the team that won the district title last year," Creamer said. "Gavin came off the bench for us last year. We lost starting guard Dylan Minnie to an ankle issue early in the year. Lance Vlacovsky went down for us recently. The majority of those kids are going to be back next season and I'm sure this will motivate them. We are only losing Gavin and Luke Marsh to graduation."
Central wraps up the season with a record of 18-8. Mooney (22-5) advances to play Lutheran East (20-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday, in a regional final at the Field House.
"That's the one regret I have," Creamer said. "I wasn't able to get these kids back to a regional final game this year. I wanted that for them. We got their once in 2018 against Lutheran East and I really wanted to give them that opportunity and see how far we had come. I feel like I let them down."
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Mooney defeats Central Catholic boys basketball in OHSAA regional
