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Basketball Cats Fall to Eagles in District Final

By Brendan DeVenney , 03/11/17, 10:30PM EST

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It was not the Wildcats’ night Saturday in Strongsville against rival St. Edward for the second straight year in the District Championship Game. The Eagles came with intensity once they stepped off the bus, and they took that intensity into the game for the full 32 minutes en route to eliminating the Wildcats in the tournament.

St. Edward, looking to avenge four straight losses to Saint Ignatius, started out hot and stayed hot led by the senior leadership of Tommy Schmock. The Wildcats were looking to feed the ball inside for the majority of the first half, but did not see them get much success. Once Schmock got his first three ball of the night with five minutes left in the first quarter, the Eagles rode the momentum from that three, not to mention the emotion from their student section, the rest of the night.

The Eagles built a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but Luke Wiskes to cut it to eight on a nice steal and layup to make it 18-10 after one.

 

Schmock then knocked down another three ball in the second quarter to build the lead to nine, 21-12, with 6:35 to play in the second quarter. Triples from Schmock, Emmett Chambers, and Jack Sullivan overwhelmed the Wildcats all night long and made it tough to overcome. Saint Ignatius, on the other hand, did not hit a three-pointer in the first half after draining seven in the first half vs. Brecksville-Broadview Heights.

The Wildcats were able to hang around with St. Edward, trailing around 10 points most of the second quarter. A nice steal by Michael Spear and transition layup by Devin Jackson made it a 29-19 ballgame at halftime.

Coming out of break, you could see a lot of intensity in Matt Davet’s eyes and determination from the entire ballclub that they could come back in this one. But seven points would be as close as they got. A nice turnaround floater and an and-1 by Davet got the Wildcats within seven, 29-22, and got the team out to a good start in the second half. Then he nailed the Wildcats’ first three ball of the night with 5:52 to play and made it a 32-25 game. Once again, the Wildcats were hanging around with St. Edward.

But then turnovers started to hurt the Wildcats. It wasn’t until 1:35 to play in the third quarter that the Eagles laid on the daggers. Emmett Chambers nailed a corner trey to make it 44-30 St. Edward. Not long after, Sullivan hit a wing three to make it 49-30 with over a minute to play. Saint Ignatius was knocked out and down for the count.

The Wildcats attempted a historic comeback with the foul game. The Wildcats got within 13 thanks to a Michael Spear three ball, making it 54-37 with four minutes to play. However, the Wildcats’ efforts fell short.

St. Edward became District Champions for the first time since 2015 and held on to beat the Wildcats, 69-50, ending a four-game losing streak to Coach Becker’s Wildcats.

The loss ends a phenomenal season for Saint Ignatius, finishing with a 19-6 record. The season saw the Wildcats get huge wins over St. Vincent-St. Mary, Warren G. Harding, two historic overtime wins over St. Edward in the regular season, take the defending State Champions, Westerville South, into overtime and come up a few free throws short of knocking them off, and hold off Benedictine in double overtime in Sullivan Gymnasium.

The Wildcats saw some historic feats as well. Matt Davet reached 1,000 points in his career on Senior Night in the Wildcats 76-65 win over Kenston. Plus, the Sectional Final win over Parma Senior made it two straight years without a loss in Sullivan Gymnasium on their home court.

Not too many teams have a starting lineup completely comprised of seniors. But that is what the Wildcats went with this year, and those five seniors will be remembered as one of the most mature, fully talented starting lineups in the state. We congratulate Devin Jackson, Michael Spear, Colin Goodfellow, Austen Yarian, and Matt Davet on phenomenal careers at Saint Ignatius, and while they didn’t end their careers the way they wanted to, they definitely gave fans a lot to cheer about.

St. Edward, who moves to 21-5 on the season, will now look to represent Northeast Ohio well in the rest of the tournament, as they face off with Mentor on Wednesday night at 8:00 in the second Cleveland Regional Semifinal at the Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center. Head Coach Eric Flannery’s squad will look to capture their third state championship in program history.

Congratulations again to the Basketball Cats on an exceptional season.