Cardinal Mooney uses strong second half to win district title over South Range, 84-59

Cardinal Mooney dominated on both sides of the ball in the second half against South Range on Friday night, winning the Division 3 Salem District Championship 84-59.

It is Mooney’s 13th District title in school history as they get redemption after falling short in the finals last season.

Cardinals head coach Carey Palermo explained what this win means to his team.

“Joy, excitement, relief. These seniors have talked about it for 365 days,” he said.

The game was close going into the half. Mooney took a two-point lead at the break after converting a layup as the closing seconds ticked away in the quarter.

The Cardinals started the third quarter on a 10-2 run to open a 10-point lead. The Raiders briefly closed to within six points of the Cardinals, but Mooney went on another run to close the quarter.

Mooney would go on to outscore South Range 50-27 in the second half, including 24-9 in the fourth quarter.

“We started making shots and turned them over a bit,” said Palermo, “and I think their three main guys ran out of gas a little bit in the second half.”

It rained threes all night in Salem.

The Cardinals were on fire from three-point range, especially in the second half, making 8 of their 13 after halftime. South Range was pretty from deep, too, making eight three-pointers.

Senior Ashton O’Brien led all scorers with 27 points in the win for Mooney, including five three-pointers.

Rocco Turner scored 17, Jibri Carter 16, and Eddie Nieves 14 for the Cardinals.

Luke Rohan and Landon Moore led South Range by scoring 22 and 21 points, respectively.

On Wednesday, Mooney will play the Niles District Champion in the first round of Regionals in Canton.