by This recap is brought to you by – https://keeonsports.com/sponsors/
Canton, Ohio – It was a total team effort Thursday night, as the Ursuline Fighting Irish cruised to an 85-44 victory over the VASJ Vikings in Game #1 of the Canton Regional semifinal at the Memorial Fieldhouse.
Ursuline raced out to a 9-0 lead, and eventually led 21-9 after the first quarter. Freshman guard Jaylen Gunther had 11 in the quarter for the Fighting Irish.
The Fighting Irish got off to another hot start, going on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 27-9. VASJ slowly began to chip away at their deficit behind the efforts of Antonio Brown and Sean Shenker. Antonio Brown had seven of the Vikings nine first-quarter points, and Shenker sank three triples, as VASJ cut their deficit to 41-29.
However, Ursuline responded with a 6-1 run to take a 47-30 lead going into the half. The Irish would further expand their lead, outscoring VASJ 24-7 in the third period and taking a 71-37 lead. Seven different Ursuline players scored, including Geno Lucente, Myles Miller, Jared Klucinec, and Noah Bell.
Both teams emptied their benches in the final quarter with the game well in hand.
Five different players scored in double figures for Ursuline, led by Jaylen Gunther with 24 points. Following him were senior forward and Malone University basketball commit Jayden Payne with 14, and junior guard Deshaun Will, also with 14. Additionally, sophomore forward Miles Miller and freshman forward Noah Bell each finished with ten.
VASJ was led by junior forward Antonio Brown, who finished with 16 points, followed by junior guard Sean Shenker, who finished with nine.
Full highlights below:
