Bishop Ireton didn’t play terrible in its season opener Saturday, a loss to Alexandria City. But Cardinals coach Dwayne Bryant thought his team lacked something.
“It felt like the last game we didn’t play with a lot of effort, a lot of toughness,” Bryant said. “If you don’t play hard, you can’t make good things happen.”
Playing hard was absolutely not a problem in Ireton’s second game Tuesday night at #6 St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes.
The Cardinals raced to a 12-0 lead against the Saints and led wire-to-wire. They played with emotion, intensity, and effort for most of the game and especially in the first half–at one point leading 30-8 midway through the second quarter.
“Tonight we came out and made winning plays, hustled,” said Bryant. “Maybe not 32 minutes but definitely about 30 minutes. We stayed composed and just played hard.”
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes looked as flat as Ireton did energetic early. The Saints did respond with an 11-0 run after falling behind by 22, and got to within 47-42 when Riley Jacobs found Blake Neal for the first bucket of the fourth quarter. But on this night, the Saints just weren’t going to make the Cardinals wilt.
Senior Quint Booker got hot, burying a three and converting an and-one to get the lead quickly back up to 53-42. The Cardinals dialed up the defensive intensity, only allowing the Saints 10 more points the rest of the way. Saint Stephen’s & St. Agnes then started to unravel as the Cardinals increased their lead.
“They made their runs and we continued to play hard, and I think that was the difference,” Bryant said. “That’s a good team [SSSA] and Andre [Coach Hunter] does a phenomenal job with those guys. We knew they were going to make a run.”
Booker led the Cardinals (1-1) on the night with 21 points. He had plenty of help as guard Jamari Hodnett had 17 points and five assists and Mekai Johnson added 14. The Cardinals also won the battle on the glass and a big reason for that was Warren Gorman. The senior forward finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Senior Garrett Sullivan was a bright spot for St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (2-2), scoring a team-high nine points off the bench. He was instrumental in sparking the 11-0 run that got the Saints back in the game. After a poor performance, there’s little doubt the Saints will rebound with more intensity in their next contest.
Like Ireton did on this occasion, to Coach Bryant’s relief and delight.
“If we can keep our composure, playing four freshmen, five freshmen at times–our seniors stepped up and were leaders tonight. If we can continue to do that all season I think we’ll have success.”
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| SSSA | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| ARGABRIGHT | 3-9 | 0-0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| BOWMAN | 3-6 | 2-2 | 8 | 3 | 1 | |
| MURPHY | 1-2 | 5-6 | 8 | 4 | 1 | |
| WILSON | 1-7 | 1-1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| NEAL | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Siska | 3-8 | 0-1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | |
| Jacobs | 2-3 | 1-2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
| Gordon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Alburg | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sullivan | 3-4 | 2-2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 18-44 | 12-16 | 52 | 23 | 9 | |
| Threes: Argabright 1-1, Murphy 1-2, Sullivan 1-2, Siska 1-4, Alburg 0-1, Bowman 0-3, Wilson 0-3 | ||||||
| IRETON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| DEVONISH | 1-4 | 2-2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| HODNETT | 7-11 | 3-6 | 17 | 6 | 5 | |
| JOHNSON | 5-13 | 2-5 | 14 | 6 | 2 | |
| GORMAN | 5-8 | 2-3 | 12 | 14 | 1 | |
| BOOKER | 6-10 | 6-8 | 21 | 3 | 2 | |
| Jones | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Kodi | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Woodberry | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Carson | 2-3 | 0-1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| TOTALS | 14-49 | 4-7 | 32 | 35 | 7 | |
| Threes: Lisack 0-1, Farrar 0-2, Lizama 0-2, Barker 0-3 | ||||||