Boys Basketball: Izaiah Pasha, Pearse McGuinn stay in, lead O’Hara past Bonner-Prendie

MARPLE — It wasn’t long into the third quarter Wednesday night that Izaiah Pasha picked up his third personal foul. The moment could’ve placed the Catholic League first-round game between Cardinal O’Hara and Bonner & Prendergast on a knife’s edge.

Bonner & Prendie, chasing the whole game, was within eight. O’Hara was one hand-check away from having to play without its point guard and do-everything creator. The same conundrum hit later in the quarter when Pearse McGuinn, limited by foul trouble in the first half, was whistled for his third.

But in tune with his maturing team, O’Hara coach Ryan Nemetz kept both players on the floor. And he let them lead O’Hara to the Catholic League quarterfinals. McGuinn scored 11 of his 16 points in the third, then Pasha supplied 12 of his 18 in the fourth as seven-seed O’Hara held off No. 10 Bonner, 69-60.

The first possession after Pasha’s third foul was telling. Two free throws from Deuce Ketner brought Bonner to within 34-26. Pasha responded by driving to the arc and flipping a pass over his head to McGuinn in the left corner to can a 3-pointer.

“Whenever a hardship comes our way, we try to look past it,” McGuinn said. “We had trouble with that in the beginning of the season. But now, I think we’ve matured a lot, and we’re always looking for each other.”

That includes a pass-the-baton offensive approach. In the first half, Josh Coulanges hit three 3-pointers over a Bonner team that came out in zone defense. He scored 11 in the first half, all three of his triples set up by Pasha passes.

Four minutes in, O’Hara led 11-2, which proved to be quite literally the difference: Bonner was never closer than two the rest of the way.

“When he gets going, it’s really hard for them to stop us,” Pasha said of his fellow senior guard. “I’m always going to be able to get downhill, against anyone in the league. If I’m kicking it to him and he’s hitting shots, there’s nothing they can do.”

After halftime, O’Hara made a concerted effort to find McGuinn. The junior big had four points and three rebounds in the first six minutes before sitting with fouls, and his absence allowed Bonner to steady the game in the lane before half.

But the Lions (16-7) hammered the ball into McGuinn time and again after the break. He made all four of his shots in the frame, plus three at the line.

“In the first half, we were knocking down shots but we know you can’t hit shots forever,” McGuinn said. “So we knew we needed to pass the ball – even me. I’m always looking for my teammates, but when I get a mismatch, they’re looking for me and get me the ball.”

Both teams shot north of 50 percent from the field, O’Hara at 23-for-44. McGuinn added a pair of blocks, including a sensational third-quarter chase down of Reggie Selden. Pasha contributed seven rebounds and six assists. Coulanges tallied 18 points, Aasim Burton scored 11 points – including a knock-down 28-footer to end the third. O’Hara was 16-for-18 at the free throw line.

The Friars (12-10) had been roughed up by O’Hara three weeks ago, losing at home by 19. This time, they never crumbled. Much of that came via Ketner, who scored 22 points, including a pair of thunderous dunks. He scored 16 in the second half. But more important was that he had three assists, the Friars sharing the ball much better than in recent losses.

“That’s what coach has been preaching – pass the ball, pass the ball, go to the other side, cut,” Ketner said. “Because in basketball, you can’t (go) one-on-one all day. You’ve got to pass the ball to your teammates and play for everyone else.”

Kevin Rucker added 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Nelson Lamizana had eight points and six boards. The Friars shot 24-for-47 from the field, and once they curtailed the turnovers (11 in the first three quarters) and started pressuring O’Hara (six fourth-quarter turnovers), they made some headway.

But they didn’t have Pasha, or a way to stop him. The reigning Daily Times Player of the Year and Iona signee scored four quick points to start the fourth and give O’Hara its largest lead at 15. When Rucker hit Jamal Hicks for a 3-pointer with 1:12 to play and trim the deficit to eight, Pasha was right back with an answer, storming to the glass for a slam.

Bonner & Prendie expended so much energy just to stay in touch that it left Pasha time to work. And the senior guard obliged, to book a quarterfinal date with No. 2 Roman Catholic on Friday.

“I realized second halves, in the games that we lost against the big teams and those tight games, I realized I stopped getting the ball, I stopped attacking, I stopped shooting, I stopped scoring, I stopped creating,” Pasha said. “And I realized that now, every time the second half comes and I know it’s a tight game, I try to be aggressive. If my shot isn’t falling, I have no choice but to try to create and get downhill. And there’s no one that can really stop me.”