Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Cardinal Mooney's Nico Genova (1) puts up a shot over Campbell Memorial's Teyon Harris (5) during the first half on Friday night in the Cardinals' gym. Genova led all scorers with 22 points.

YOUNGSTOWN — In recent years, Cardinal Mooney’s 1-2-2 press has been a program staple under the tutelage of head coach Carey Palermo.

But it wasn’t always that way.

During Palermo’s first couple seasons, the Cardinals were fundamentally sound in the half court, but sometimes struggled against bigger, more athletic teams.

“We had to find a way to slow teams down,” Palermo said. “If we’re not going to out-rebound them, we gotta find a way to turn them over. So my fourth year, one of my assistants, Jeff Shaheen, kept staying in my ear — we have to press. We have a good enough team, but defensively, it’s going to be tough for us to grind out half-court defensive stops.”

So the Cardinals adopted the 1-2-2 press, and it has helped lift Mooney to success in recent years. That continued Friday night, as the Cardinals wore down Campbell with their pressure in a dominant 70-35 victory.

“That’s just kind of been our thing the last couple years,” Palermo said. “When we’re disciplined in it, like we have been the last couple games, it’s going to take four or five passes to beat it and get a layup. At worst, you’re going to beat it and you’re going to have to sit and run offense. It’s going to take you 15 seconds to break it and get everybody set up. Then that takes you out of rhythm. Most times we don’t even get a turnover, we just get a quick shot. That’s just as good because now we only have to defend for 10-11 seconds.”

Mooney forced the Red Devils into countless turnovers with their pressure, while limiting them to 26.2% shooting from the floor.

When Campbell did break the press, even if it did get a shot at the rim, the Red Devils struggled to finish around the basket.

“I thought we had a good week of practice. I don’t know what happened,” Campbell head coach Nick Canterino said. “I don’t think we were in our spots, and obviously we dribbled ourselves into some bad positions. Didn’t flash where we needed to flash, and were just too inconsistent with it. Sometimes we broke it and got a layup, other times we’re throwing it right to them. Just gotta get better there.”

Both teams started slow in the first quarter, but Nico Genova carried the Cardinals early on. He scored 11 of Mooney’s 13 first-quarter points.

Genova, who is the Cardinals’ only returning lettermen from last year’s regional runner-up team, finished with a game-high 22 points.

“He’s a three-year varsity guy,” Palermo said. “He got experience last year on that regional runner-up team. We have a talented team, we have an athletic team, but you still need a leader. You still need someone who’s done it before. … It’s still a work in progress. I think he kind of understands we’re going to go how he does, whether he scores or whether he’s leading.”

After Genova carried Mooney early, the others started to get into a rhythm.

Dom Letlow had success in the post attacking the basket, while Kingston Powell started hitting shots from outside. Letlow finished with 14 points, while Powell had 10 for the Cardinals.

“It just helps the other players out when the oldest player, the most veteran player, comes out and has success early because then they just follow,” Palermo said.

Sway Rodriguez led Campbell with nine points, while DJ Lambert had seven.

The Cardinals return to action on Tuesday with a trip to face Canton South at 7 p.m., while the Red Devils will travel to Western Reserve for a conference matchup on Monday at 7 p.m.