YOUNGSTOWN OH- The last time these two teams met just a few weeks ago, it was the lady Cardinals of Cardinal Mooney who came away with Holy War battle number one 46-35. Now, just a day after National Girls and Women in Sport Day, it was time for round two in the Holy War, senior night edition and the lady Irish were hungry for revenge for what happened last time while not wanting to get swept two years in a row. Mooney coming into the game just came off of a 43-39 loss to the Lady Warriors of West Branch while the Irish were on a three game winning streak with a loss to Canfield 51-37 and were without one of their best defenders in Jamie Nelson who is in concussion protocol, with Lily Scott being implemented into the starting five.

First Half

The seniors of Mooney had a good first few minutes in the beginning, especially when senior Cherish Little got into the game and blocked an Alayna Smith put-back layup while receiving a standing ovation from the Mooney family and friends. Before that, the Cardinals got their first two points thanks to an Administrative Technical Foul. After that, the Cardinals would go up nine to three early on but got into a little bit of foul trouble which led the Irish to gain some momentum and score a few easy layups and two point jumpers from the Forward Smith, Guard Cara McNally and Senior Forward Anisah Moorman which cut the lead down to two. Mooney would however go into the second with a seven point lead.

In the second quarter, it was the senior Cardinals leading the pack with a ton of GRIT as seniors Katie Hough and Angelina Rotunno both hit threes, while Gia Diorio and Olivia Rouser off the bench went into the paint scoring a few shots. Meanwhile, Ursuline had an answer of their own with Anisah Moorman at the guard position knocking down a nothing but net three and at the laf, it was now a four point game 27-23.

Second Half

The second half became a big show between both teams as they shared the lead back and forth, with the Irish early on taking the lead by one while Rachel Fabry getting a nice fast break play in between three cardinal defenders and getting the nice layup as a reward and while Smith and Moorman would do more work inside the paint, Cara McNally hit an important three. In the end however and with a 35-34 lead in the fourth, Mooney found their rhythm again and there was great full court pressure by players in senior Gia Divincenzo, Hough, Maddie Trimble, and the rest of the crew as after a few more buckets, the Irish were forced to foul with none to give.

Mooney would go into the Bonus shooting one and ones, with the Irish answering back with a layup on their own, but would have to foul again which put Mooney in the double bonus and eventually gave them the win, the Cardinals and coach Jason Baker getting their 10th win of the season, while coach Mike Kernan and the lady Irish fall to under .500 at seven and eight.

Ursuline Stats

For the lady Irish, it was once again the talented forwards playing at the five in Alayna Smith and Anisah Moorman as Smith scored 13 and Moorman put up 12, combining for 25 points, one of those being from behind the arc. Cara McNally would finish with nine points, hitting a three in the third, Rachel Fabry would finish with five points and Lily Scott rounded up the crew with two. Meredith Gray would come into the game playing solid defense later on.

Cardinal Mooney Stats

For Mooney, it was once again Katie Hough leading that pack with 19 points. Angelina Rotunno would score seven on the night, making a three in the second quarter. Gia Diorio had six points, and Gia Divincenzo had five. Meanwhile, both Olivia Rouser and Alaina Scavina combined for eight points and Maria Fire finished with two points. Maddie Trimble had a good defensive performance pressuring a few irish players.

Up Next:

Cardinal Mooney (10-6) as of now is a TBD. For Ursuline (7-8) they are on a four game losing skid and will look to bounce back with a win against Chaney (2-10) at the Cowboys/girls gymnasium tomorrow at 5:30.

*Contributed by YSN’s Ian O’Brien*