Dons lose to Irish

WHEELING - Once-beaten Charleston Catholic enjoyed a short-but-sweet trip to the area this week by rolling to the championship in the boys' bracket of the Undo's Ohio Valley Catholic Tournament at Wheeling Jesuit University's Alma Grace McDonough Center.

Following Monday night's victory against Wheeling Central, which defeated the Fighting Irish the last two years in the West Virginia Class A state tournament finals, coach Bill McClanahan's team pulled away from scrappy Weirton Madonna, 55-38, in Tuesday evening's title contest.

Charleston (4-1) trailed by 15-12 at the end of the first quarter but rallied to go in front 26-22 at halftime and then outscored the Blue Dons (1-2) 28-16 in the second half.

Sam Wood, 6-foot-4 senior standout, tossed in 21 points to lead three double-figure scores for the Irish. John-Paul Tupta checked in with 15 points while Logan Riley added 11 points.

Madonna was paced by Clay Rokisky's 11 points, while Chris Perna and Conner Arlia added nine each.

''I congratulate Charleston Catholic. They have an excellent team and they played well in this tournament,'' Weirton Madonna George Vargo said. ''We did a good job in the first half but when we lost Drazen Frankovitch with a (possible) broken hand right at the end of half, you could see how much it took out of our kids.''

Frankovitch was injured while battling for a rebound on a missed Madonna shot just as the buzzer sounded.

Although he was scoreless at the time, Frankovitch's presence inside helped the Blue Dons stay close on the boards against the taller Fighting Irish.

Charleston Catholic jumped ahead 10-2 after Wood drilled his second 3-pointer 4 minutes into the opening quarter. Madonna got its transition game going and outscored the Irish, 13-2, the remainder of the quarter. Mario Yacoviella netted back-to-back baskets to get things rolling and Rokisky drained the first of his three trifectas to spark a late 7-0 surge.

Will Dobbins hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter to tie things up but Rokisky nailed another triple to help the Blue Dons go back ahead. After Arlia's conventional three-point play gave Madonna a 22-17 advantage, the Dons' largest of the night, Charleston Catholic scored the final nine points of the half to take a 26-22 lead. Tupta scored seven points in the quarter.

''We played hard and maybe we could have stayed close if our three-point shooters had some better luck,'' Vargo said. ''I think we had five or six shots rim out but it was Charleston Catholic's night. Overall, they played better than we did.''

Charleston Catholic 55, Weirton Madonna 38

Weirton Madonna 15 7 9 7 - 38

Charleston Catholic 12 14 14 15 - 55

MADONNA: McCune 0-1 0-0 0; Perna 3-9 2-2 9; Arlia 3-6 3-5 9; Pietranton 0-1 0-0 0; Frankovitch 0-3 0-0 0; Battista 0-0 0-0 0; McFadden 1-4 0-0 2; Egyud 0-2 0-0 0; Yacoviello 2-3 3-4 7; Rokisky 4-10 0-0 11; Totals: 13-39 8-11 38. 3-pointers: Rokisky 3, Perna.

CHARLESTON CATHOLIC: McKown 0-1 0-1 0; Wood 8-11 2-3 21; Ritchie 1-2 0-0 2; Dobbins 3-7 0-0 7; Gerencir 0-4 0-0 0; Tupta 5-11 4-4 15; Higgins 0-3 0-0 0; Riley 4-6 2-3 10; Totals: 21-49 8-12 55 3-pointers: Wood 3, Dobbins, Tupta