Leaning against one of the walls in the Wirtz Pavilion, Saint Ignatius junior guard Tom Parker smiled and spoke of what the standing-room crowd in Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday night had just witnessed.
“That’s what we focus on in practice, all day, every day.’’ Parker said. “That’s Ignatius defense. We just play hard and this St. Eds game, with the rivalry, we played with our hearts. That’s how we’re able to play so hard on defense.’’
From the opening tipoff until a steal by junior guard Tyler Hammond with nine seconds remaining – a play that led to Hammond’s game-clinching free throws – a heart for defense was again the Wildcats’ seat of emotion.
Sean O’Toole (’87), who is in his first season as head basketball coach of his alma mater, watched his gritty ‘Cats turn back the tall and talented Saint Edward Eagles, 45-41.
Playing without senior post Dan Fox, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, Saint Ignatius shook off a 12-day layoff and improved to 5-2. Fox, a Notre Dame football recruit and an All-Ohio safety on the Wildcats’ Division I state championship team, suffered a slight shoulder dislocation during practice last week. He is expected to be back in the lineup within a week or two.
“I didn’t think about the size (disadvantage),’’ said Saint Ignatius’ 6-3 junior post Vito Sosic, after he did an outstanding job defending against Eagles highly touted 6-foot-10 sophomore post James Price. “I tried to push him out of the paint. He’s so-so from midrange, so I just wanted to keep him out of the paint.’’
The good-natured Sosic, a kid who leaves everything he has on the court, not only helped limit Price to three points, but he also contributed five rebounds, two steals and 10 points, including a clutch layup that gave the Wildcats a 43-41 lead with 26 seconds left. In stopping a furious 10-0 run by the Eagles, Sosic battled for a loose ball, secured it and powered it up for two points with two defenders surrounding him.
“If we’re to win games, we have to defend,’’ said O’Toole, who will guide Saint Ignatius against another tall, deep and talented squad – the University School Preppers – tonight at US. “Hopefully our defense will create some offense. But we still want to score better than we have.
“Vito really stepped up tonight. It was a measurement game for us, with Danny out. I know that’s part of the game (injuries), but we asked everyone before the game to just step up one play. And we got that out of these guys tonight.’’
With Fox unable to play and standout senior guard Pat Hinkel in early foul trouble, the Wildcats rode a 3-pointer by senior forward Fred Schirmer, a layup by junior post Mark Myers off an assist from senior guard Joey Parris and a 3-pointer by gifted 6-5 sophomore forward Shonn Miller to a 13-7 lead after the first eight minutes.
Continuing to play an aggressive man-to-man, sagging defense, Saint Ignatius, on the strength of some strong offensive play down low by Sosic, a back-door layup by Miller and a 3-pointer by Parris, built a 10-point advantage in the second quarter. Saint Edward (8-4), sparked by the inside scoring of senior forward Jor’gio Alexander-Lacey, cut the deficit to 20-14 by halftime.
In what was a see-saw third quarter, the Wildcats held a nine-point lead thanks to another 3-pointer by Miller, two free throws by Sosic and a driving one-hander and two free throws by Parker. Miller’s 10 points tied Sosic for team scoring honors.
Coach Eric Flannery’s Eagles were not about to go away, however, as they closed to 29-24 behind the long-range shooting of junior forward Mike Corcoran.
Hinkel turned a picture-perfect assist from senior guard Joey Salata into a three-point play, Saint Edward sophomore guard/forward Delbert Love buried a 3-pointer and, after Miller turned a text-book assist from Parris into a two-handed slam, Saint Ignatius led, 34-27, entering the final eight minutes.
“Our guards do a great job defensively, too,’’ O’Toole said. “They start the pressure higher and wider. Our goal is to try to force teams to make decisions below their shoulder.’’
The Wildcats continued to apply pressure and moved to another 10-point lead on a breakaway layup in transition by Parker off a pass from Hammond that was right on the money, a layup by Sosic off a Parker assist and two free throws by Hinkel with 3:20 remaining.
It was at that point, however, that the Eagles picked up their trapping defense and went on a 10-run that featured a 3-pointer by freshman guard Myles Hamilton, a steal and a layup by Love and a 3-pointer by Love that tied the score with 46 seconds left. Love finished with a game-high 12 points, 10 of them coming in the second half.
After Sosic stopped the bleeding with his second-effort rebound, Hammond responded with his key steal near the left baseline of Saint Edward’s basket, was fouled and sealed the deal by draining his clutch free throws.
“That’s what we do every day in practice. We rotate and shoot free throws,’’ Hammond said. “So it’s just a regular basic thing. You block everybody out and do the same thing like in practice.’’
Hammond helped Saint Ignatius to a 13-for-16 performance from the foul line and Miller’s six rebounds showed the way to a 28-21 advantage off the boards. Saint Edward was 7-for-13 from the charity stripe.
“I grew up 10 houses from St. Eds, I appreciate St. Eds,’’ said O’Toole, who emphasized his head was still spinning, thinking about tonight’s game at US.
“I know St. Eds is a great school, I’m friends with Eric (Flannery) and my brother (Donnie) coaches there. There are a lot of special feelings, without question. But this is about our kids bonding together and trying to survive without Danny Fox, who does a lot of things for us. And everyone stepped up and played their role.’’