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Dylan Harrison Lifts Linsly Boys

St. John puts up a battle

BELLAIRE — Dylan Harrison scored seven of his game-high 31 points during the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s boys’ basketball tussle between Linsly and St. John.

They turned out being seven of the most important points the Cadets produced.

Harrison’s output fronted a 9-0 run that sparked debuting Linsly to a 74-55 victory inside ‘The Greenhouse’.

”I thought we came out and played really hard,” Linsly coach James Wallace said. ”The mistakes we made were speed mistakes from playing a little faster than we usually play. But that’s going to happen in Game 1.

”Give St. John a lot of credit. They came out and played us really tough. Coach (Matt) Heusel does a good job of getting his guys to play hard.”

The Irish’s scrapiness and tenacity, especially on the defensive end, kept Heusel’s squad in the game until Linsly pulled away with its fourth-quarter surge.

”I’m completely proud of my boys with that effort,” said Heusel, the second-year coach who’s guided the Irish to a 2-2 start.

”We were completely outsized the whole way. Our only big guy, Logan St. John, played his heart out.”

St. John, who scored 13 points in three quarters, made a huge difference at both ends of the floor. But just as the Cadets started making their game-clinching run, the Irish lost St. John.

After Cameron Opic trimmed St. John’s deficit to six — 55-49 — with a layup early in the final quarter, Harrison put back an offensive rebound for as bucket. Moments later, in transition, Harrison made another layup and was fouled. St. John went to the floor in the process and had to be carried to the Irish bench before Harrison completed the three-point play that put Linsly ahead, 60-49.

Harrison threw down a dunk at the 6:09 mark making the score 62-49. And when Jesse Nhitemuka converted a layup off an Irish turnover, the Cadets had the game well in hand, 64-49.

Logan St. John could be seen on the bench grimacing in knee pain throughout the fourth quarter. He was walking following the contest.

”I thought turnovers hurt us along with not being able to rebound with their size,” Heusel said. ”The second and third chances they started to get affected things, too.”

Prior to its fourth-quarter run, though, Linsly’s offense was held in check by the Irish. And, in the process, St. John was able to knock down some long-distance shots.

”They have they ability to shoot the ball really well,” Wallace said. ”They were hitting shots and they were contesting our shots. We couldn’t take care of the ball long enough to get on a run and they took advantage of that.”

The score was tied at 18-18 after the first quarter before the Cadets went on a 12-2 spurt to begin the second and grab a 30-20 advantage. During that run, along with the fourth-quarter one, two things were similar for the Cadets — patience on offense and no turnovers.

”Their tempo and aggressiveness forced us to play a little faster than we needed to play sometimes,” Wallace said, citing his team’s 23 turnovers. ”But when we were under control, made our passes and played as a team, we got a lot of open looks.”

St. John closed the gap to 38-35 on a Aaron Rataiczak jumper and Cody Hamilton free throw, but Linsly stretched their advantage right back to seven.

”They’re a good team,” Heusel said. ”I thought we played well.”

Opic and Rataiczak both collected 15 points for the Irish, who welcome Conotton Valley on Friday night. Hamilton finished with 12.

Warren Saunders (13), Jacob Murray (11) and Nhitemucka (10) also scored in double figures for the Cadets, who play host to Martins Ferry on Saturday afternoon.

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