Massillon, Ohio - Chase Toppin provides an instant spark at both ends of the court, Josh Ozanne turns Massillon Washington's Gymnasium into his own personal "Slam City" and "The Floor General," aka Tevin Jackson, directs the offense almost flawlessly, while laying down some solid defense.
It all helped add up to a 13-point victory over the Tigers of Washington High School on a night when Saint Ignatius, now 12-6, dominated in a fashion more authoritatively than the final score would indicate.
The Junior Varsity Wildcats had their hands full on Saturday evening in Tiger Town, as they walked away with a 43-42 victory over Massillon Washington that enabled them to improve to 17-2 heading into Friday's JV season finale at Kenston. The tipoff will be 5 PM.
Congrats go out to the Saint Ignatius Blue and Gold Freshmen Basketball Teams, as the Blue advanced to the second round of the "Sullivan Showdown" with a 65-25 victory over John Marshall on Saturday morning and The Gold Cats, behind 21 points by guard JP Tijanich, turned back Massillon Washington's Freshmen Tigers, 47-44, on Saturday evening in Massillon.
The Blue Cats' next game in the Sullivan Showdown is today (Sunday) at 3:45 PM in Father Sullivan Gymnasium. Coach Regan Sweeney's ninth graders will carry a record of 12-3 and a five-game winning streak into today's (Sunday) action.
This corner will be on hand for coverage of The Blue Cats at the Sullivan Showdown today (Sunday) and on Monday.
HERE IS A CORNER'S VIEW OF SATURDAY NIGHT'S VARSITY AND JUNIOR VARSITY GAMES AT MASSILLON WASHINGTON, FOLLOWED BY RECAPS ON SATURDAY'S FRESHMEN ACTION.
From storied Massillon Washington High School: In his weekly preview with this corner, Saint Ignatius' Hall of Fame Head Varsity Basketball Coach Brian Becker '77 said, without pulling any punches, that the key to Saturday's game with the Massillon Tigers was going to be the guard play.
After a quick start by the Tigers that saw them move to an 8-1 lead, the Wildcats' backcourt began to put a stamp on the game that Massillon's faithful won't soon forget.
First it was a 3-pointer by Saint Ignatius' standout senior guard Jon Barnes, followed by another trey that was courtesy of gifted senior guard Josh Ozanne.
The 'Cats' blink of an eye 8-0 run was capped by Saint Ignatius' savvy beyond their years sophomore guards Tevin Jackson and Chase Toppin, as "Tev" converted a steal and an assist from Chase into a layup and a 9-8 Wildcats lead.
Massillon, now 11-10, would respond with a two-handed slam dunk from junior forward Brett Martin.
Yes, the night was still early, but as the minutes and seconds went on, it was a night that belonged to the Cats from Cleveland.
Trailing, 10-9, after Martin's crowd-pleaser, Saint Ignatius turned to multi-skilled senior post/forward Luke Wiskes, who went strong to the rim for two points. Toppin followed with a driving 1-hander and a buzzer-beating, coast-to-coast layup that had Coach Becker's Wildcats riding the momentum of a 15-10 lead into the second quarter.
The 'Cats' athleticism and depth continued to pay dividends in the second quarter.
Jackson turned a Massillon turnover into two free throws and, after another basket from Barnes, a free throw by Barnes and a layup in transition from Toppin off a Jackson assist, Tigers Head Coach Michael Cruz was up yelling for a timeout with 4 minutes and 38 seconds left in the first half and his team trailing, 22-12.
Saint Ignatius was on a mission after that early deficit, no matter how Massillon tried to slow the 'Cats' purpose.
Playing with passion at both ends of the floor, Saint Ignatius maintained its 10-point advantage heading into the halftime break. The big late first half baskets for the Wildcats were a smooth spin-move layup by Ozanne off an assist from ever-present senior post Dom DiNunzio, another triple from Barnes, a soaring 1-hander to the glass by Ozanne and a fall-away jumper along the baseline from DiNunzio.
After their early 8-1 deficit, the Wildcats went on to outscore the Tigers, 31-14, the remainder of the first half.
"Overall, I thought Devin and Chase played really good games," said Coach Becker, who will be seeking his 350th career victory when he leads his alma mater at Kenston on Fridayevening. Again, that is a 6:30 PM Varsity start that is preceded by a 5 PM Junior Varsity game between the Bombers and the Wildcats. This corner will have a combined preview for Wednesday morning on the Kenston Varsity game and the Varsity regular-season finale versus Whitney Young, which takes place on Saturday at 7 PM in Father Sullivan Gymnasium.
"Chase got to the rim really, really well and I thought Tevin played great defense on their best guy, Dyson Berry, who comes away with just six points on field goals and nine points overall," Coach Becker continued. "I said earlier in the week that if our guards could control their guards, good things were going to happen."
Those good things continued to happen over the final 16 minutes, as another quick and powerful drive down the lane by Toppin off a picture-perfect assist from savvy senior guard Neeko Melendez, a repeat trey from Ozanne and a slam dunk by Wiskes courtesy of an Ozanne assist had the Wildcats leading by 13 points late in the third quarter.
Massillon would make a little noise at the end of the third quarter, only to be silenced by a layup from DiNunzio off an assist from endless hustle senior forward Aymin Bahhur, a strong move down low by 6-foot-9 junior post Kevin Davet and another authoritative trip down the lane by Toppin.
Providing some of the finishing touch exclamation marks on One Paul E. Brown Drive Saturday night were Toppin, who scored off a sweet dish from Jackson and Melendez, who took a Toppin assist and turned it into a reverse layup along the baseline.
That said, a can-you-hear-the-thunder closing act came courtesy of Ozanne, who visited Slam City with intense authority.
To appreciate Josh's soar and score, listen to the great call and description given to it on the Saint Ignatius Athletics Web Site by the SIBN's superb Color Analyst Brad Anderson '18.
"We did what we needed to do defensively tonight, overall a very solid game," said Coach Becker, whose Wildcats have played seven games versus teams ranked No. 1 in their respective OHSAA Sectional/Districts - Two versus St. Edward (No. 1 at Strongsville); Solon (No. 1 at Euclid); Garfield Heights (No. 1 at Solon); St. Vincent-St. Mary (No. 1 at Canton); Cornerstone Christian (No. 1 at Orwell) and Lutheran East (No. 1 at Garfield Heights).
Ozanne led the Wildcats with 17 points, including 10 in the second half. Toppin had 12 points and three steals, and Jackson dished out nine assists. The 'Cats won the battle of the boards, 41-25, with DiNunzio showing the way with eight rebounds.
Oh so promising freshman forward Jayden Ballard scored a team-high 14 points for Massillon, Martin totaled 13 points and senior guard JJ Streeter finished with 11 points, including three late 3-pointers.
As for the Junior Varsity Wildcats, they found themselves trailing the Tigers' Jayvees, 14-7, after the first seven minutes.
Two free throws by strong and determined post Darius Moss, followed by a deep corner 3-pointer from endless hustle forward Rory McConville cut the deficit to 14-12.
After McConville scored along the baseline, Saint Ignatius, behind the nose-for-the-ball rebounding and scoring of forward Patrick Hyland, took a 21-20 lead into the halftime break after Hyland hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
With Moss, Hyland and guard Sean Armen providing the key baskets, the Wildcats were clinging to a three-point lead. The Tigers came up with back-to-back two pointers to go in front by one point, but Saint Ignatius, sparked by the play of point guard Caleb Blake, forward Nate Sommerfeld and the presence of Moss in the post, took a 33-28 lead into the final seven minutes.
Behind the scoring of Armen, Sommerfeld, McConville and Moss, the 'Cats were holding on to a 41-35 advantage late in the fourth quarter.
Trailing by five points with 40.4 seconds remaining, Massillon cut the deficit to 42-40 with 31.4 seconds to go.
After Saint Ignatius left the door open by missing the front end of two one-and-one free-throw situations, the Tigers would commit a huge turnover with 18.6 ticks left and a free throw by guard John Whelan enabled the Wildcats to hold on, 43-42, after Massillon's Jaden Stock scored with the final seconds ticking off the clock.
McConville and Hyland each scored nine points to lead the 'Cats and Moss and Sommerfeld finished with eight and six points, respectively.
The Tigers' Stock led all scores with 15 points and was supported by freshman Luke Sabo, who contributed 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Marcel Dickerson, who finished with eight points.
As for the Freshmen Blue, they overruled the Lawyers from John Marshall by 40 points. The young Wildcats hit nine 3-ponters, as all 15 players on the roster scored.
Once again, this old gym rat will provide coverage on the Freshmen Blue, both today (Sunday) and Monday at the Sullivan Showdown. Just a reminder that The Blue Cats are scheduled to tip off today at 3:45 PM.
This corner would like to express my thanks to Freshmen Gold Coaches Tom Parker '10 and Kyle Wise '10 for having the privilege to cover and report on The Gold Cats whenever the opportunity presented itself.
The Gold closed out an outstanding 13-5 season by rallying past the Freshmen Tigers from Massillon Washington, 47-44, on Saturday evening in Tiger Town.
Guard JP Tijanich, who finished with a game-high 21 points, including three 3-pointers, buried a 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats a 30-29 lead entering the fourth quarter.
With The Gold Cats trailing by seven points, JP sent home anther 3-pointer and, after a Massillon turnover, forward Emmett Hanna scored off an assist from JP that cut the deficit to 40-38.
After a driving 1-hander down the lane by JP and a layup from forward Nick Lamirand off a perfectly executed inbounds play under the Wildcats' basket, Saint Ignatius led, 45-42.
Massillon would close to 45-44 and with 15.6 seconds remaining to be played, it appeared that JP had made both ends of a one-and-one free-throw situation that would have given the 'Cats a three-point lead.
JP's second made free throw off the one-and-one was wiped out by a lane violation, but Saint Ignatius held on thanks to a Tigers turnover and another Tijanich free throw.
JP, the quarterback this past fall for Head Coach Rodney Gallaway's talented and resilient Freshmen Football 'Cats, scored nine points in the fourth quarter. Guard Declan Mangan and Hanna supported Tijanich's 21-point evening by scoring six and five points, respectively.
We will see you at Sullivan Gymnasium later today. Have a great Sunday.