Wellington's pressure too much for Fisher Catholic boys

LANCASTER – Fisher Catholic struggled from the start Wednesday night against visiting Wellington's full-court pressure and, because of that, the Irish seemed to be fighting an uphill battle the rest of the game.

The Jaguars forced 23 turnovers, including eight in the first quarter. The Irish overcame a 14-point deficit in the third and cut Wellington's lead to five early in the fourth, but two consecutive turnovers led to baskets by the Jaguars.

The Irish never threatened again, and Wellington steadily pulled away in a 60-45, Central District Division IV second-round tournament win.

"In our first tournament game we handled pressure well and (Wednesday) we didn't handle it well at all," Irish coach Phil McKnight said. "I think we kind of pressed the issue a little bit after we got down early — even though it wasn't a very big lead — and when you do that, you try to force things.

"Our shot selection wasn't good at that point and we didn't do a good job of rebounding the basketball. We just didn't have enough poise it takes to win."

The Irish (10-12) also struggled shooting the ball. They made 16-of-51 shots from the field and only 7-of-30 in the second half.

After falling behind early, the Irish tied it at 12 with a minute left in the first quarter, but the Jaguars scored the final four points to take a 16-12 lead into the second.

Wellington (13-10) continued its solid play in the second quarter. The Jaguars kept the Irish scoreless for four-plus minutes while scoring nine points to take a 25-12 advantage.

Trailing 29-17, Fisher Catholic showed some life, scoring six consecutive points to cut the deficit to 29-20. However, Wellington scored the final four points of the half to take a 33-20 lead at the break.

Fisher Catholic had one final push late in the third and early in the fourth. Down by 14, the Irish finished the third on an 8-2 run. Four different players — Jacob Burley, Hayden Muckensturm, Blake Saffell and Parker Brady — scored during that stretch as the Irish cut the lead to 40-32.

Saffell's 3-pointer to start the fourth cut the deficit to 40-35, but — once again — turnovers hurt the Irish. Wellington responded with six consecutive points to quickly push the lead back to double digits.

"We had every break we needed in the second half, but we didn't get rebounds and we didn't knock down shots," McKnight said. "We cut it to five and then we have a couple of turnovers and it goes from five to 11. That took the air out of us."

Muckensturm led the Irish with 12 points and Brady finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Burley added nine points and nine rebounds.

Wellington's Chandler James led all scorers with 27 points and 15 rebounds.

"We didn't execute the game plan," McKnight said. "We were right on the brink of winning two games in the tournament. It didn't happen, but I'm very proud of these guys and I think we are moving in the right direction."

twilson@lancastereaglegazette.com

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Twitter: @twil2323