Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s Dante Spadafora and Jake DiMichele have been pretty much unstoppable this season.
Trying to slow them down was the dilemma Shenango coach Bob McQuiston faced Friday.
You name it, the Wildcats tried it … Triangle-and-two, matchup zone, 1-3-1, man-to-man.
“We kind of threw everything at them,” McQuiston said.
None of it worked, leading to a lopsided game between the top two ranked teams in WPIAL Class 2A.
Spadafora scored 34 and DiMichele 33 to help No. 1-ranked OLSH roll to an 89-56 win at No. 2 Shenango in the Section 3 opener for both teams.
The performance continued what has been a scorching start for DiMichele and Spadafora, the only two returning starters for defending champion OLSH (4-0). DiMichele, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, is averaging 32 points per game and has scored at least 29 points in each one. Spadafora, a 5-11 junior point guard, is averaging 25.
“They can shoot it,” McQuiston said. “Spadafora and DiMichele, obviously we knew that they were their two main guys. Our goal was to keep them around 40, and they ended up with 67 between the two of them. That’s a lot of points between two guys.”
The nightly outbursts by the star duo have caught OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez by surprise. Last season, Spadafora and DiMichele each averaged 14 points a game.
“We certainly knew they were capable, but I don’t think we were expecting 30 points each per night,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe 15 or 20, but not this type of production. They were feeling it tonight. They were shooting it well, and their teammates were looking for them.”
The statistic Rodriguez said he was most proud of, however, was his team turning the ball over only three times. That combined with Spadafora and DiMichele’s hot shooting led to a long night for Shenango.
Spadafora connected on five 3-pointers and DiMichele had four.
“We definitely made a statement,” Spadafora said. “This team was ranked No. 2 in 2A. To come out and win by that much says a lot. We’ve been going hard. We have a new team, new chemistry. This team is special.”
The Shenango student section booed and heckled Spadafora every time he had the ball in the first quarter. That was when Shenango ran neck and neck with OLSH. The score was tied, 15-15, after one quarter,
“I think it’s probably first section game jitters against an opponent that was highly ranked, and I think they were nervous,” Rodriguez said of his team’s three new starters.
But OLSH picked up its defensive intensity early in the second quarter, leading to a 13-0 run. Spadafora drained three 3-pointers in the spurt. The Chargers led, 39-28, at the break, and continued to dominate in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats, 28-18, in the third quarter to break the game open.
Spadafora scored 17 points in each half, while DiMichele scored 16 in the first and 17 in the second.
Colin McQuiston led Shenango (3-2) with 22 points. Reis Watkins added 12 and Jason Kraner chipped in with 10.
As terrific as Spadafora and DiMichele have been, Rodriguez knows his team will need to develop some other consistent scorers if they are to push for WPIAL and PIAA titles. No other OLSH player scored more than six points Friday.
“It’s not lost upon me,” Rodriguez said. “I know that’s not going to be every night. They can’t do that every night, but tonight they did.
“Next game we may need some other guys to step up, and that’s what we’re working on in practice. We’re trying to get the other pieces in place.”
The two biggest pieces certainly are already.
First Published: December 14, 2019, 3:24 a.m.
