With the regular season winding down, the Lady Irish are putting behind a loss earlier this week with back to back blowout wins. You can thank defense for that.
The Lady Irish traveled to Ponca City on Tuesday night and went home with a 54-25 victory over the Wildcats. Trying not to stumble heading into the postseason, the Lady Irish earned an impressive win by beating Stillwater on Friday night
The Lady Pioneers came close to knocking off the second-ranked Lady Irish when it was at the Stillwater Fieldhouse, but McGuinness squeezed out an eight point victory in their first meeting.
The second time around was completely different. It seemed that Stillwater didn’t belong on the same court last night, as the Lady Irish were dominant every quarter and put away the game early.
Back to what I was saying about defense. Coach Burch’s girls didn’t get to 18-2 by accident. McGuinness shook off the Monday loss and focused on not letting teams put points on them.
With every turnover forced by the Lady Irish you could tell that whatever Coach Burch told them and what they did in practice was working. There were several occasions where the girls would have an opportunity at scoring on the fast break, and Stillwater was simply outplayed.
The Lady Irish’s win keeps the momentum alive heading into Monday’s match-up in Enid.
Towards the top, eh? Not quite. The new ADM has been released, and Bishop McGuinness has been moved from Class 4A to 5A. McGuinness ranks as the smallest school in 5A, but not all sports are making the change.
Tennis, wrestling, swimming, and cross country are Irish sports already classified at 5A. Three of those four teams dominate in their respective sport, so this doesn’t bother them.
Football will be the only sport for the next two school years unfazed by this decision. The districts have been set for the next couple of seasons, therefore McGuinness football will enjoy the 4A slate for a little while longer.
You may be wondering what this all means. Well let’s just say, people won’t be making any excuses for us if we win eight state championships in a single school year.
The 5A scene is no joke, and cupcake teams are very hard to find. Basketball for both girls and boys will be a challenge, but McGuinness has competed with higher class teams in the regular season and proven successful.
For right now, this is the biggest news out of the OSSAA as we patiently await for football season.
Give IOD your thoughts down below, is this good or bad for McGuinness?
There certainly wasn’t the usual hype and excitement going in to Saturday night’s district playoff game between McGuinness and Classen. Rightfully so, both games were over by halftime, and neither Classen squads could find a way to keep the Irish fans interested. As the clock struck 0:00 at the end of the first half of the boy’s varsity game, fans piled out of McCarthy Gymnasium.
To start off a great Saturday for the Irish, the Lady Irish came to play early. The Classen Comets found themselves trailing 43-5 at the end of the first half. The Lady Irish were with out a doubt the better team, and Classen won’t forget this beating any time soon.
McGuinness picked off on lazy passes, snatched away the basketball, and continually went on the fast break and shoved the ball right down the throats of Classen. There was no slowing down, and the Irish finished the night with 73 points.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, the slaughter forced the “mercy rule” to come in to play, as the clock ran the entire fourth quarter to end the misery of the Lady Comets. Credit the girls and their great effort in the win. If it wasn’t for a killer defensive mindset, the Irish might have had lesser success.
However, shooting was a big area where Classen struggled. The Lady Irish tipped and blocked many attempted baskets, but most of the time the shots were off the mark by a mile, and the Comets seemed to not care after awhile. The Comets went into the game looking apathetic, and went out with a humiliating loss.
I did showed up a bit late for the game, but it seem the Irish won the game within the first few minutes. The Comets have no one to blame but themselves. The effort wasn’t there, and the Irish took advantage. The win put the girls in a match-up with Piedmont next Thursday at Heritage Hall.
That same venue will also host Piedmont and the McGuinness boys. Their game was also a blow out. It gave the Irish fans plenty of reason to leave, because the game was over by the end of the first half.
McGuinness started off a bit slow, but attacked the rim, and picked up the two point shots that fell for them. The team was aggressive down low, and defensively didn’t let Classen get any easy looks. The Irish ended the first half of play up 31-8.
I was very impressed with Caruthers who directed McGuinness on offense, the whole team as a matter of fact were able to rotate the ball well. Whether they went in or not, the Irish set up the plays very well.
Going back to the defense, the team allowed only 21 points the entire game, and the best part was that the sophomore varsity players were given most of the playing time in the fourth quarter. Those sophomores only allowed 3 in the final period, and the Irish shooting continued with the future Irish in.
The guys came to play, and things really heat up next Thursday. McGuinness continues their district playoff journey with Piedmont at Heritage Hall. You won’t want to miss the game, but if you do, you can always get live in-game updates from the IOD Twitter page.
Those who showed up early were very wise in doing so. The greatest atmosphere for a basketball game you could imagine took place tonight. The 2010 Junior Homecoming week ended in excitement and joy, as the Irish defeated the Bishop Kelley Comets on a crazy night of basketball. Words can’t fully describe the pure sweetness of beating the team that this school most hates, but as a reporter, I’ll do my best to give all those people who weren’t able to attend a fairly accurate report.
Girls: Irish 39, Comets 35
The McGuinness girls are riding high on momentum, and don’t expect any decline. These girls came in to the game hoping for an easy night of basketball, but Bishop Kelley gave the girls a run for their money. It was a low scoring game to say the least. Both teams struggled to find a rhythm in their shooting, but that all started to change in a more exciting second half.
Elyse Hight was a huge factor in the game for the Irish, and put up a game-high of 20 points. The Irish were surging past their rivals, but in basketball, just about anything can happen.
The Comets reduced a comfortable McGuinness lead, and put out everything they could on the floor. However, time wasn’t on their side, the shooting lacked in the last seconds, and the Irish post game was way too much for Kelley to overcome.
The Irish girls should be patting themselves on the back once more with another impressive win over a higher class team. With only three losses coming from 6A opponents, these girls are a team on a mission. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a new trophy to be added to the Irish collection come March in the state championship.
Boys: Irish 52, Comets 41
When Principal Morton told the Irish students to pack the place during the pep rally today, the students did not disappoint. By the time it was the end of the first quarter, there was standing room only. The McGuinness fans came by the bunches, and were as loud as I’ve ever heard McCarthy Gymnasium.
The Irish had beaten down the Kelley Comets the last time they played on McGuinness’ court, but this game tonight was a bit more exciting. The Irish were red hot to begin things. Although, how could the team not with a crowd and atmosphere that was set up so beautifully? The Irish were in the saddle with a 30-15 lead going into halftime.
After seeing the Comets come out of half time and making shots of their own, I started to think the Homecoming Queen Crowning Ceremony gave the Comets too much to rest and time to gather themselves. Coach Durham gave the boys one of his famous pep talks, and the Irish hit huge shots late in the game.
The outcome was a nice result, and the fans were also able to see the old Matt Christiansen. Since coming off Matt’s injury, his recovery slowed him down, and not as effective as the team would like. However, Matt said after the game that he believes he’s out of the funk, and thinks the team is ready to get back on track to state.
Matt’s mindset is something positive for Irish fans, especially considering he put up 12 points for McGuinness from the post. Let’s not forget senior Jameel Whitney with a game-high of 15 points, and a good, solid effort from sophomore Joe Edmonds with 11 points.
Both teams sent Kelley fans home with nothing to cheer for, and the Irish expect to do that to several more fan bases in the near future.
For additional thoughts on the game, IOD presents a few post game thoughts from McGuinness students who had an important role in the game:
Things were back to normal for McGuinness, as both Irish teams won their game against Class 6A’s Tulsa Union Redskins. The ‘Skins weren’t any match for the Irish, that was made a point in front of everyone watching the Cox Sports Network. With the state-wide television station covering McGuinness, Joe Edmonds and Cara Pugh made sure that the fans at McCarthy would leave happy.
The girls started a great night of basketball with a 46-40 victory over the Lady Redskins. Cara Pugh dominated down-low, and she scored 15 points. Pugh’s performance along with Kamber McMaster’s offensive contributions were simply too much for Union.
The Redskins kept falling behind even deeper, but tried to rally. However, Union struggled from the free-throw line, and that ultimately was their downfall. Consider McGuinness only a little bit lucky for the Redskin’s poor shooting, because the green and white were capable of much more than what the score tells.
The Irish pick up their 15th win of the season, and do not count out these girls for state championship hopes. Their only three losses have been to 6A schools, and have all the potential to carry into post-season play.
Moving on to the boys game, the Irish ended their two game skid. McGuinness’s boys basketball team won 56-42, and got the attention of everyone watching at home. The Irish looked great on both ends of the basketball court, and were making defensive plays that turned into points.
The Irish and Redskins started off slow, but things picked up when the Irish took advantage of a very sloppy Union offense. Tulsa Union had troubles making their jump shots, and the Irish were able to work the ball down low, and penetrate to the basket.
However, Coach Durham’s team started playing like a unit once he delivered a fiery halftime speech. Coach Tondrell Durham was furious with the lack of team work the boys showed, and you could clearly see a rejuvenated squad coming out in the second half of the game.
The Bishop McGuinness boys improve to 13-5 on the year, and have two away games this weekend before the all exciting homecoming game against Bishop Kelley. That game will also be featured on Cox Channel 7, and for breaking news and score updates, follow IOD on our Twitter page.
With the regular season winding down, the Lady Irish are putting behind a loss earlier this week with back to back blowout wins. You can thank defense for that.