Plenty left in the Cardinals in 72-45 Rout of Bishop McNamara

Senior Louie Khouri, (10) is the team captain and leading scorer with 22 in win over Mustangs.

Coming off a tough weekend with DeMatha on Friday and a strong effort falling short Sunday with top-ranked Gonzaga, Bishop Ireton was staring at a pair of road games with tough Bishop McNamara and O’Connell to end the regular season. Any concerns for Coach Neil Berkman that his charges may be out of gas were answered quickly when the Cardinals bolted to a 19-5 first quarter lead enroute to a 72-45 pasting of the Mustangs (13-13, 8-9).

McNamara would rebound from the blitz in the first quarter and battle back to within 25-23 by intermission. But this time Stephen Jiggetts, who plagued Ireton in their first meeting, would not get enough help to overcome four Cardinals who scored in double figures in their second meeting.

The third quarter was a repeat of the offensive fireworks the redbirds demonstrated out of the locker room in the first half. Building a 14-point lead in the first quarter, Ireton dumped 28 on the stunned Mustangs coming out in the second half to explode a 2-point nailbiter into 19-point rout heading into the final period. Ireton added 8 more to the margin with a 19-11 final period of action.

Bishop Ireton was led by Louie Khouri with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. Patrick Moseh and Da’von Wiley each scored 14, junior Dan Noe had 13. Richie Kamtchoum and Andrew Perham rounded out the scoring with a free throw each. Jiggetts led Bishop McNamara with 12, Kevin Robbins and Jordan Crockett had 9 each in the loss.

At 15-12, 6-11 in WCAC action, the Cardinals have their best regular season record since Paul DiStephano led the 1986 team to a 19-9 mark in regular season play. They look to the finale with Bishop O’Connell in Arlington with the possibility of a 7 seed for the Cards and a date in Godley Gym with the conference’s 10th seed. An 8 seed finish gets Ireton a home date with the number 9 seed. And, currently ranked #6 in VISAA’s division I poll, the Cardinals may have the opportunity to host a first round state playoff game down the road.