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Saint Ignatius vs. Canton McKinley basketball recap

By Eddie Dwyer, 12/21/08, 12:00AM EST

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CANTON – The final stats almost said it all – 22 turnovers and a 10-for-20 performance from the free-throw line, with two of the misses coming off the front ends of one-and-one situations.

Yes, it was a tough night in legendary Memorial Field House on Saturday, as the Saint Ignatius Wildcats fell to the Canton McKinley Bulldogs, 66-54.

The Wildcats, who got off to another slow start offensively, slipped to 1-1 on the young season, while the Bulldogs, who led, 9-0, with the game just two minutes old, improved to 4-0.

That’s all you need to know, right?

Well, the numbers, which also saw McKinley win the rebounding battle, 33-25, didn’t quite tell the whole story. And that is what is so frustrating for Saint Ignatius head coach Sean O’Toole (’87) and his staff.

Despite the poor shooting from the charity stripe and some inconsistent play at both ends of the court, the Wildcats never stopped hustling and were still in the game with 1:07 remaining to be played.

''They’re free, you’ve got to knock them down,’’ said O’Toole of his team’s 50 percent effort from the foul line. ''And we didn’t get there (to the line) enough. We had the advantage inside.’’

McKinley, which has now won 601 games in Memorial Field House, rode its ball pressure and the quickness of senior point guard Terrell Lipkins to a 17-9 lead entering the second quarter. The 5-9 Lipkins scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the first eight minutes.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, as the Bulldogs took a 31-19 advantage into their locker room at halftime.

Saint Ignatius, which took the Memorial Field House’s parquet floor ranked seventh in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 poll, closed to 31-23 early in the third quarter on two strong moves down low by 6-4 senior post Dan Fox.

The Bulldogs, responding in a fashion one associates with a program that has produced an Ohio-best 1,737 victories, held a 40-26 lead after Lipkins scored off a rainbow one-hander and junior guard Isiah Elliott dropped in two points off a running one-hander.

However, just as the McKinley faithful were expecting their “Pups’’ to run away with it, the Wildcats picked up their defensive effort and went on a 14-4 run.

After a strong drive along the baseline by senior guard Joey Salata, a floating one-hander down the lane by junior guard Tom Parker and a layup by Fox off a give-and-go from Parker, Saint Ignatius trailed, 44-40, with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

McKinley, riding the clutch free-throw shooting of junior guard Jamon McClain, was able to keep the Wildcats at bay down the stretch. The Bulldogs were 19-of-26 from the foul line.

Saint Ignatius was still in striking distance after Fox buried a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 59-52 with 1:07 left. Fox led the Wildcats with 15 points.

Keeping its composure, yet still attacking the basket, McKinley pulled away on a three-point play by 6-4 sophomore forward Steve Miller with 44.2 seconds to go.

''We had opportunities to finish, we didn’t get the traditional three-point plays,’’ said O’Toole, whose team will play its third consecutive road game when it travels to Findlay on Tuesday night. ''I was decently happy where we got (the ball). But when we get it there, we’ve got to finish.

''There were spurts where we pushed it well and there were spurts where we got it in the post well. But it seemed like every time we made that spurt, then we would have a two-possession letdown, they would get a traditional three-point play and we would make a silly turnover.’’

McKinley also was victorious in the junior-varsity game, defeating the Wildcats’ jayvees, 51-42.

Saint Ignatius, behind six quick points by guard Greg Kurtz, jumped out to a 10-0 lead. But the young “Pups’’ responded with a commanding 25-5 run.

The Wildcats got a solid performance off the bench from guard Rickey Brown, who finished with a team-high 11 points.