Bishop Ireton battled the favored Bishop O’Connell Knights early but couldn’t stay with the visitors in a 62-33 setback on Friday in Alexandria.
The Knights jumped to 7-0 lead only to see Ireton rally to tie the game at 7-7. It looked like football scoring at that point with O’Connell then rattling off another 7 consecutive points to take a 14-7 lead to end the first period.
Second quarters have been an Achilles heel for the Cardinals and the Knights exploited the young squad with an 18-5 period to put the Arlington school firmly in control at halftime by a 32-12 margin.
O’Connell added five more points to the lead in the third and the final period was a high scoring affair, with the Knights extending the final margin with a 16-12 fourth period.
Sophomore Michael Everett led the Cardinal scoring with 8 points, Nick Schmelzer added 7, Darius Hines had 6. Dominic Fragala and Randall Gaskins each had 13 for O’Connell, among the nine Knights would scored on the evening.
Next up for the Cardinals, (6-10, 0-10) is Paul VI on Tuesday. Tripleheader action begins with frosh at 4pm, JV 5:45, varsity tipoff is slated for 7:30.