“I was just feeling my shot, so I kept shooting,” Eichie said. “I was on fire. I couldn’t miss.”
»RELATED: Tuesday’s high school roundup
»RELATED: Tuesday’s high school scoreboard
Eichie wasn’t the only Irish player feeling it on Tuesday night. Catholic Central hit 12 3-pointers to beat Greenon 73-43 in an Ohio Heritage Conference South Division game at Jason Collier Gymnasium. The Irish improved to 7-0 and 4-0 in the OHC South Division.
Sabien Doolittle scored 21 points, hitting three 3-pointers and Trey Dunn added 20, nailing four of his team-high five 3-pointers in the first half.
The key to the Irish’s outburst was ball movement, Eichie said. The 30-point win was Central’s largest of the season.
“We swung the ball well and played as a team,” he said. “We played hard on defense. Our chemistry was just there tonight.”
Sophomore Cade Rice had 16 points for Greenon, which fell to 3-3 and 2-2 in the OHC South.
The Knights led 16-15 in the final minute of the first quarter, but an Eichie 3-pointer with three seconds remaining put the Irish up two at 18-16.
Central outscored Greenon 20-10 in the second quarter, capping the period with a 3-pointer from Dunn right before the buzzer to give the Irish a 38-26 lead.
“In the first half, I thought our kids played pretty well,” said Greenon coach Kevin Taylor. “(Central) shot lights out in the first half. I thought maybe with their shooting, the way they were going maybe they wouldn’t knock as many shots in the second half. They’re a really talented team over there, the No. 1 team on our side (of the league) for a reason.”
The second half belonged to Doolittle, who scored 16 of his 21 points in the final two quarters.
Irish coach Cody Sarensen was pleased with the Irish’s defensive effort, holding Greenon below its season average in points.
“We did a lot better defensively than we did the last couple of games,” he said. “We limited giving up offensive rebounds and our turnovers were way down compared to the last two games. Those were huge for us.”
The game was a learning experience for Greenon’s young squad, Taylor said. The Knights have just three seniors on their varsity rosters.
“(Central) is the team to beat right now in our league,” he said. “We told our kids that’s where we want to be. We’ve got some talented players. We just need to come together and jell as a team.”
An undefeated season is new territory for the Irish, who won 22 games last season. The target on their back gets bigger with every win, Eichie said.
“We’ve got to keep working hard, keep pushing it in practice and hope we can maintain it,” he said.
The Irish host second-place Southeastern (3-3, 3-1 OHC South) on Friday night, which will also serve as Catholic Central’s Alumni Night, Sarensen said. A win would give the Irish a two-game lead over the rest of the OHC South Division.
“It’s going to be a packed house,” he said. “We have to continue to do what we do best offensively and defensively and I think we’ll be OK. It’s definitely going to be a tough matchup.”
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