Zach Halligan and Walsh Jesuit defense slow down Darryn Peterson and CVCA, 57-40

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – CVCA’s Darryn Peterson is one of the first names most people mention when talking about candidates for Ohio’s 2023 Mr. Basketball award. But for Walsh Jesuit’s Zach Halligan, Peterson was the next challenge in a season full of them.

Halligan drew the bulk of the assignment guarding Peterson on Saturday night when Walsh defeated CVCA 57-40 in front of a packed house at The Dome in the Battle on Wyoga Lake Road.

Peterson scored a game-high 20 points but very few of those were easy, as Halligan and his teammates made him work for the majority of his points. When Halligan wasn’t guarding Peterson one-on-one, the Warriors mixed in some zone to change up the look for the CVCA’s sophomore guard. 

“I started off on him and I did my best to make all of his shots hard, make him hit the difficult twos,” Halligan said. “I think with all the defense we threw at him, it changed the looks he got from the floor and it really helped.”

While the defense was busy containing Peterson, who finished 11 points below his season average, the Walsh offense was making shots and building a lead. The Warriors led by seven after the first and by nine at halftime before stretching it to 14 at 30-16 in the third quarter.

But Peterson and the Royals started to claw back, as Peterson got a layup and guard Jonathan Fridline hit a 3-pointer. Peterson then knocked down a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer of his own for a 9-0 CVCA run that cut Walsh’s lead to 30-25.

Walsh switched up the defense again, going back to Halligan in man-to-man on Peterson, and the Warriors finished the quarter on a 15-0 run to lead 45-25 after three.

“At that point I knew how we were at the start of the game I could get him,” Halligan said. “That is where our energy was coming from.”

The Walsh offense kept rolling into the fourth quarter, scoring eight of the first 11 points to put the game out of reach.

“It took us a second, but we were able to bump the lead out and as they say, momentum was on our side there a little bit,” Walsh head coach Kevin Byrne said. “We started making a few shots and we were able to get a couple stick backs.”

During the stretch, Walsh was able to turn their defense into offense to pull away from the Royals. In the 23-8 run, Halligan scored 12 of his team-high 19 points.

“Defense is always first in my books, but I know my offense is there,” Halligan said. “When I get rolling, I think it really showed.”

Peterson tries not to pay attention to the individual guarding him, rather just focus on what he needs to do.

“I didn’t even see (Halligan) guard me, really,” Peterson said. “I saw me and the hoop, but I couldn’t get anything to drop.”

It wasn’t just Peterson who couldn’t make shots, as CVCA had just two players – Peterson and Fridline – score through three quarters. The only easy one for Peterson came in the second quarter when he got out ahead of everyone for a one-handed dunk.

“I think they did an ok job at defending, but we weren’t hitting shots,” Peterson said. “Only two guys having points (through three quarters) is not a great look right now.”

One of the challenges the Walsh defense presented Saturday night was their willingness to get physical.

“I thought from a team standpoint, Walsh did a really good job of staying physical and doing what they do,” CVCA head coach Matt Futch said. “They are a group that they set the tone from a physicality standpoint.”

The biggest defensive play of the game came from Walsh, but it wasn’t Halligan. It was a block by 6-foot-6 Keith Rivers, who denied Peterson at the rim as Peterson went up to try to dunk on him. It was the most emphatic of the three blocks for Rivers in the game.

“It’s a big help to have somebody in the paint with a presence like that,” Halligan said. “His block today, that one got the place going. That was a great one.”

But the story defensively for most of the game for Walsh was Halligan, who settled in once the game started and didn’t feel any extra pressure despite who was on the other side.

“The pressure’s always there but I think that with the film and knowing I have had to guard the team’s best player all year, I knew I just had to shut him down defensively,” Hallligan said. “There was pressure coming in but as the game went on, it all kind of went away.”

In the end, it was just another night for the 6-foot-4 senior, who is used to the challenge of guarding a team’s best player, whether it be an Ohio Mr. Basketball candidate or not.

“I think guarding somebody’s number one player is a challenge but it’s a challenge I am willing to accept every game,” Halligan said. “I am going to put my effort into defense every game because the offense will come. I think honestly, it’s just fun to get the best player.”

Photo Gallery (photos by Jeff Harwell)