Ohio City - Yes, Cornerstone Christian won the Division IV State Championship in March of 2016 and was an 18-7 District Finalist last season.
That said, the small school Patriots walked out of Saint Ignatius' Father Sullivan Gymnasium on a cold December Tuesday night with what was probably the biggest regular season triumph in their Varsity Basketball history.
Cornerstone Christian, which took the Sullivan Gym floor with a record of 0-3, outscored the now 2-1 Wildcats, 26-15, over the final eight minutes and went on to a 61-51 triumph in what is one of the most storied high school basketball venues in Northeast Ohio, if not the entire state.
Playing against "the big boys" is nothing new for the Patriots.
As we previewed on the corner Monday morning, Cornerstone Christian faced seven Division I programs last season and, before this winter is over, Coach Dan Selle's team will have faced 11 Division I opponents.
In Saint Ignatius, the Patriots were taking on their fourth consecutive big-school program after losing to three of the area's other basketball-rich Division I programs, at Cleveland Heights (81-70), home to Central Catholic (55-48) and at St. Edward (81-52). Under the OHSAA's new Competitive Balance system, Central Catholic moved up to Division I this season.
"I don't think we took care of the ball very well tonight, " said Saint Ignatius' Hall of Fame Head Coach Brian Becker, whose Wildcats were undefeated in Fr. Sullivan Gym the past two seasons. "They double-teamed a lot of the screens and I think their pressure bothered us.
"We need to get more consistent scoring out of everybody," Coach Becker continued. "We can't just rely on Neeko (senior guard Neeko Melendez), Jon (senior guard Jon Barnes) and Wiskes (senior forward/post Luke Wiskes) to give us 15, 16 points a night. Everybody needs to step up and improve their game."
Stepping up early for the 'Cats on Tuesday night was senior forward/post Dom DiNunzio, who scored all of his 13 points in a first half that ended with Saint Ignatius clinging to a 28-25 lead. Coach Becker's defense was superb in the second quarter, limiting the Patriots to 5 points after Cornerstone Christian led, 20-14, after the first quarter.
The Wildcats' faithful were heard from early in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Melendez increased Saint Ignatius' lead to 31-26.
However, Cornerstone Christian didn't rattle in a gymnasium that has taken its pressure toll on much bigger named opponents over the years.
Led by their gifted All-Ohio senior guard and Furman recruit Michael Bothwell, and 6-foot-5 senior post/forward Kendall Saunders, the Patriots took a 33-31 lead on a basket by 6-4 junior forward Ja'Shawn Robinson, a soft one-hander down the lane by Saunders and a 3-pointer by Bothwell with 4 minutes and 7 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Bothwell finished with a game-high 29 points and Saunders wasn't far behind with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.
Saint Ignatius, ranked 12th in Cleveland.com's Top 25 seven-county area poll, would regain the lead off an athletic and determined three-point play by Barnes and led, 36-33, after Barnes hit a pull-up jumper along the baseline. Barnes led the 'Cats with 17 points.
Two free throws from Cornerstone Christian's senior guard Titus Wheeler cut the deficit to one point and the Wildcats took that slim advantage into the final eight minutes.
The fourth quarter belonged to Bothwell and Saunders, as Coach Selle's 1-2 punch took turns helping the Patriots build an 11-point lead with 4:15 left.
Another 3-pointer by Melendez and two free throws by Barnes made it a six-point game with 3:02 to go, but the smooth and savvy Bothwell hit both ends of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation and then scored off a driving one-hander that had one of the Cornerstone Christian faithful singing "Night Moves!"
Saint Ignatius, behind Barnes' baseline to baseline hustle, would close to seven points with 1:03 remaining, but Bothwell's three-point play and some clutch free-throw shooting by Wheeler left no doubt.
"We'll take this and we'll learn from it," said Coach Becker. "For the most part our defense was okay. We had to foul at the end. They shot 27 free throws, but we were fouling. We've got to find a way to get our rotation set and become a better offensive team."
With Wiskes pulling down 9 rebounds, the 'Cats won the battle of the boards, 35-30.
Coach Becker will lead his Wildcats against ninth-ranked Cleveland Heights (3-0) on Thursday night in the Tigers' beautiful new gymnasium. The Varsity tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 and will be preceded by a Junior Varsity matchup at 6.
See the corner's preview on Cleveland Heights that was also posted this morning.
Saint Ignatius' Freshmen Gold Team improved to 3-0 on Tuesday evening after defeating an overmatched Cornerstone Christian Freshmen Team, 51-12. The score was 33-0 after the first quarter. The Patriots had only seven freshmen players, but one of them, Terrell Reddix, who stands about 4-11, scored nine points off three 3-pointers.
And a tip of the corner's winter cap goes out to Coach Chris Salata's and Coach Brian McLaughlin's Junior Varsity Wildcats, who stand 3-0 after defeating Cornerstone Christian's Jayvees, 79-40, in a game that followed the Freshmen matchup. Thirteen players scored for the deep and talented JV 'Cats.