Central Catholics Spoils Opener, Defeats Louisville 52-36

Mike Weiss Louisville Leopards, Central Catholic Crusaders

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Central Catholic 52, Louisville 36

Jimmy Russell and Steve Vanckunas scored 18 points each in leading Canton Central Catholic to a 52-36 victory at Louisville Tuesday evening.  In the loss Alex Schooley led the Leopads with 12 points, Alex Hollifield scored 10 points, and Blake Hoover added 8.

The Crusaders jumped out to an 8-0 first quarter lead and held the the Leopards off the board for the first 4:22 of the season.  Louisville bounced back though by getting a pair of three-pointers Beatty's Winter Hoodiesfrom Schooley and Joe Crank, and also a basket by Hoover to cut the deficit to 12-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Later, the Leopards would trim the lead to 18-14 with 3:36 left in the first half on the second of 3 Schooley three-pointers.  But, the Leps would fail to score again until the second half.

After Louisville trailed 26-18, Central put together a 10-1 third quarter run in which they held the Leopards scoreless from the field for over four minutes.  The Crusaders took a commanding 38-23 lead into the final period.

With about two and half minutes remaining in the game, Hollifield stole the ball from a Central player and took it all the way in for the score to put Louisville within 8.  However, thanks to a 12 of 13 (92%) shooting performance from the free throw line for the game the Crusaders ended the evening on a 10-2 run to seal the deal.

The loss snaps a 6-game winning streak against Central Catholic at home.  The last time the Crusaders won at Louisville was on February 9, 1999 in overtime 69-66.  Central has now taken the last two meetings in the series from Louisville after the Leopards took the previous three before that.

The Leopards will look to get back on track Friday when they travel to Carrollton to open up NBC play.

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STATISTICS

LEOPARDS  52, CRUSADERS 36

CRUSADERS: Russell 7 4-5 18, Vanckunas 6 6-6 18, Rowlands 3 0-0 6, Blakeney 2 0-0 4, Krupar 1 2-2 4, Hawk 1 0-0 2.  TOTAL 20 12-13 52.
3-Pointers: None
TEAM FT: 12-13 92%
LEOPARDS: Schooley 3 3-4 12, Hollifield 4 2-4 10, Hoover 3 2-4 8, Carter 1 0-2 3, Crank 1 0-0 3.  TOTAL 12 7-14 36.
3-Pointers (5): Schooley (3), Carter, Crank
TEAM FT: 7-14 50%

Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL

Central 12-10-16-14–52

Louisville 8-6-9-13–36

Fouls: 15-15

Records: Central Catholic 1-1, Louisville 0-1

UP NEXT: The Leopards will next begin NBC play when they travel to Carrollton to face the Warriors on Friday, December 7.  JV will begin at 6:00, while Varsity will start at 7:30.

PICTURES

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JV: Central Catholic 51, Louisville 36

Jake Mathie scored 11 points and Jacob Pukys scored 9, but it would not be enough as the JV squad dropped the opener against Central Catholic 51-36.

Louisville led 15-8 after the first quarter that ended with Pukys hitting a miracle three-pointer from just in front of half court after an inbound with 0.9 seconds left.  Pukys finished with 3 triples on the evening, while Mathie also hit a three-pointer.

The Crusaders outscored the Leopards 26-12 over the next two quarters to take command of the game.  Jacob Paul led Central with 15 points, while Jerry Leatherman and John Paulowski each reached double figures as well.  Paulowski hit 3 three-pointers in the contest.

In just two quarters of action, Drew Noble also scored 8 points.  Stephen Kerzan also went 6 of 6 from the line for all of his points on the evening.

STATISTICS

CRUSADERS 51, LEOPARDS 36

CRUSADERS: Paul 4 7-8 15, Leatherman 5 2-3 12, Paulowski 3 1-2 10, Boccuti 1 3-6 5, Smith 2 0-0 4, Shepard 1 1-2 3, Murphy 1 0-0 2.  TOTAL 17 14-21 51.
3-Pointers (3): Paulowski (3)
TEAM FT: 14-21 67%
LEOPARDS: Mathie 3 2-6 11, Pukys 3 0-1 9, Noble 3 2-2 8, Kerzan 0 6-6 6, Lairson 0 2-4 2.  TOTAL 7 12-19 36.3-Pointers (4): Pukys (3), MathieTEAM FT: 12-19 63%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL

Central 8-14-12-17–51

Louisville 15-6-6-9–36

Fouls: Louisville 19-18

Records: Central Catholic 1-1, Louisville 0-1

PICTURES

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