MCDONALD SERVES UP A WIN ON THE ROAD

The Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) has plenty of premier programs that make for a number of incredible conference matchups throughout the course of the regular season. The Scarlet Division side of the conference had another night of boys conference matchups on Tuesday night. Inside The Scarlet Division, The McDonald Blue Devils made the trip up to Atwater in their second bout of the year with Waterloo. Playing in plenty of nail-biters in recent seasons, three of the last five meetings between The Blue Devils and the Vikings have been decided by a single bucket prior to Tuesday.

The first quarter looked to set the makings of another instant classic between the two programs. With guys like Wyatt Wolford from McDonald and Navarre Alhassan of Waterloo exchanging buckets in the early going. Wolford would score 7 points in the quarter while Alhassan would contribute 5 points; however, three shots from distance found the mark in the first for McDonald, allowing them to take a slim 17-16 lead into the second eight minutes of play. By the second quarter, The Blue Devils Greg Costantino started to heat up after a quiet first. With Costantino hitting a pair of triples in the second quarter alone, he would chip in 8 points before the half, which happened to be all of the offense McDonald could muster in the second quarter. The Blue Devil defense did enough to pump the brakes on The Vikings while allowing McDonald to hold a 25-24 lead at halftime.

The third quarter saw The Vikings regain momentum, capturing a lead a few times throughout the quarter. Initially taking the lead to start the quarter, before the efforts of Costantino and Kyle Crown from McDonald prying the advantage right back. Ryan Wise put on a show for Waterloo, scoring 8 of his team’s 15 third quarter points to propel The Vikings ahead 39-37 with the final quarter in sight. In an eight minute race to the finish, the final quarter of the conference battle ensued! Like two heavyweights in a championship slugfest, the two squads exchanged critical blows to one another down the stretch. Ryan Wise had a phenomenal game for Waterloo, scoring 5 more points in the fourth and finishing with 21 on the night. But it was The Blue Devils that would not be denied! Hitting three more triples in the fourth as a part of ten total distance shots that connected on Tuesday night for McDonald. Greg Costantino earned player of the game honors, finishing with 22 points total and scoring 9 in the final quarter, including a three pointer and two free throws that ended up sealing the slim 54-51 win for The Blue Devils over Waterloo!

Waterloo (10-5)(5-4) will now set their sights on Sebring (10-7)(4-5) where they will have a date with The Trojans on Friday January 27th. Also on Friday, McDonald (5-10)(3-6) will also be on the road, heading to North Jackson next as Jackson-Milton (5-10)(3-6) will entertain their conference foe in a battle of Blue Devils versus Blue Jays on Friday! Interviews with winning Head Coach Jimmy Francechelli and Player of The Game Greg Costantino can be found below!

Scoring (McDonald)

Greg Costantino: 22 PTS. (Player of The Game)

Wyatt Wolford: 13 PTS.

Drew Zajack: 6 PTS.

Shane Stoops: 6 PTS.

Nolan Agler: 4 PTS.

Kyle Crown: 3 PTS.

Scoring (Waterloo)

Ryan Wise: 21 PTS.

Navarre Alhassan: 12 PTS.

Anthony Podojil: 10 PTS.

Jackson Eichler: 4 PTS.