At least once in every season, there is a test of will that is put forth by a team to see what they are really made of.
In 2015-16, the Wildcats went undefeated into the Alliance Christmas Classic, and lost a heartbreaker to Louisville at the buzzer. After that, it was full steam ahead for that Regional Final team.
This year, it looks different, but it may not feel as different. On Friday night in Canton, the Wildcats went toe-to-toe in another fight to the finish with the undefeated McKinley Bulldogs. This time, Saint Ignatius started slow in the first half, needing to kick it into high gear in the second half to climb back into it.
The Wildcats never led the game, as standout Ohio high school basketball players Darryl Straughter and Deontae McCollum went back-to-back with three balls to make it a huge 14-4 lead for Rick Hairston’s Bulldogs with 3:40 to go in the first quarter.
McCollum is cousins with Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard C.J. McCollum, a graduate of GlenOak High School, a team the Wildcats will welcome to Ohio City on January 6.
At that point, the Wildcats were in trouble and had to dig themselves out of the hole. However, things started to take a turn for the worse. There seemed to be a lid on the rim for the Wildcats, as McKinley went on a 8-0 run in the first quarter. It was 15-6 McKinley to open up the ballgame.
In the second quarter, things would not change. Kwausy Toles, one of McKinley's senior leaders, hit a mid range jumper to make it 25-12 McKinley in the second quarter, the hosts' largest lead of the game at that point. However, that lead just kept on expanding, including when ZaVontae Howell drove the lane with force to make it 33-14. Saint Ignatius would trail would be down 20 points at one point in the first half, before trailing 39-23 at halftime.
Straughter notched 10 points by halftime, which is nothing rare for the senior. McCollum was right behind him with 8 points.
But the second half was different, as it featured the comeback.
To start the second half, Darryl Straughter and Neeko Melendez exchanged shot from behind the arc, making the score 42-28 in favor of McKinley. Melendez finished with just 5 points off the bench, but helped significantly on defense and working the ball around on offense.
Matt Davet cut the lead to 13, 47-34, with 5:11 to go in the third quarter with an easy layup off an assist from Yarian.
Saint Ignatius was inching closer to the Bulldogs, but McCollum would get nasty with a major dagger and momentum killing 3-pointer to push the Bulldogs lead to 53-28 with 2:12 remaining in the third.
Fast forward, however, to the fourth quarter, and the Wildcats were still hanging around. Michael Spear had a huge triple that finally made it a 10-point lead for McKinley with 7:52 to play. Spear finished with 8 points.
The comeback was alive and well when Josh Ozanne, Mr. Off-the-bench-hero, hit a huge corner trey, cutting the lead to nine, 57-48, with seven minutes left.
And then the “Davet Show” came on. The big man had a nice lay-in with 6:25 to play to cut the lead to seven, 57-50. He would then cut the lead to six with a huge three ball from the top of the arc, making it 61-55 “Pups” with 5:16 remaining. He would do it again with a triple to cut the lead down to five, 63-58 with 4:11 to play.
Saint Ignatius cut the lead to a single possession game with a nice assist by Davet to Yarian to make it a 63-60 ballgame with 3:25 left. McKinley kept fighting though trying to stretch their lead with the athletic guard play of Straughter.
However, don’t forget, the Wildcats have Yarian and Davet, two forwards that can do it all. With a slick pass from Yarian to Davet, it was back to a 3-point game with 1:57 left and the score at 67-64 in favor of McKinley.
After that, the Bulldogs and Davet traded buckets, until Matt Davet cut the lead the slimmest of the night, with a huge 3-ball to narrow the score to 72-70 McKinley with 13.5 seconds left.
Unfortunately, the foul game turned out to be the Wildcats' worst enemy, as the comeback ended up being just short, 75-72 at the hands of the now 7-0 McKinley Bulldogs.
“Basketball is played in 32 minutes, we played 16," head coach Brian Becker '77 said following the game. "And you have to be able to play 32 minutes to be a decent basketball team in March. We executed poorly, we defended poorly. Give McKinley some credit, they pushed us out of doing some things that we normally do.”
Matt Davet, the player of the game for Saint Ignatius, finished with his sixth straight 20-plus performance with 31 points, going 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Yarian would be the only other Wildcat in double digits with 10. He ended up finishing perfect from the charity stripe at 6-for-6.
“Davet played within himself in the fourth quarter," Becker said. "He took some shots he should be taking, and let the game come to him a little bit.”
For the Bulldogs, Darryl Straughter also had a 20-plus night with 23 points on 6-for-15 shooting and going 4-for-9 with the long ball.
The Varsity ‘Cats will look to get back on the winning track with a victory Tuesday night in Warren when they face off with the Raiders from Warren G. Harding at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats knocked off the Raiders at home last year with a dominating 75-62 victory, and will look to do the same this year on the road.