The Eagles (9-1), ranked No. 1 in the seven county area poll and No. 1 in the Associated Press Division I state poll, limited the Wildcats (9-2) to seven points in both the second and third quarters. Saint Ignatius entered the game as the third-ranked team in both the seven-county area and the AP big-school state poll.
St. Edward was 14-of-18 from the free-throw line and the Wildcats were 13-of-22 from the charity stripe. Forward Marsalis Hamilton led all scorers with 18 points, including 12 in the first half, and was supported by a 15-point night from guard Malcolm Walters and 11 points from forward Kipper Nichols.
Saint Ignatius senior post Eric Black and senior forward/guard Isiah Barbra totaled nine and eight points, respectively.
****The Junior Varsity Wildcats improved to 11-0 by wearing down St. Edward's previously undefeated JV team, 62-46.
HERE IS THE CORNER'S GAME STORY FROM ST. EDWARD'S COACH JIM CONNORS COURT, ALONG WITH A RECAP ON WHAT WAS ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE BY THE WILDCATS' JUNIOR VARSITY BASKETBALL TEAM. A LOOK AT HOW THE ICE CATS FARED IN MEADVILLE AND A LOOK AT THE WRESTLING TEAM IN THE CIT FOLLOW THE BASKETBALL STORIES.
LAKEWOOD, OHIO - During his preparation for Saturday night's game at St. Edward, Saint Ignatius senior point guard and captain Danny Bova was asked by this corner what it is about the top-ranked Eagles that he is most impressed with.
"I respect their intensity," Danny said. "They play hard. They're going to come at you and they're going to be physical."
Truer words were never spoken as Saturday night on St. Edward's Coach Jim Connors Court, the Eagles were certainly all of the above when it came to the defensive effort they exhibited from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
Limiting the Wildcats to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters, creating pressure that resulted in 22 Saint Ignatius turnovers and rushing and frustrating the 'Cats into a 21 percent shooting night from the field, the state's and the area's No. 1 ranked team controlled the first game of the annual home-and-home series, 61-34.
The longtime West Side rivals will meet again on Feb. 8 in Saint Ignatius' Sullivan Gymnasium and could see each other a third time in the postseason.
That said, Saint Ignatius' veteran head coach Sean O'Toole '87 realizes there is work to be done before Feb. 8 and definitely before the annual postseason tournament.
And the work begins this week as the Wildcats will play three games in three days next weekend - at currently unbeaten Berea-Midpark on Friday night, home to Glenville on Saturday night and versus Canton Timken on Sunday afternoon at 3 in the Dunk 4 Diabetes tournament at Walsh University in Canton.
"Obviously, it's a team that you can't play from behind on and number two, we left points on the floor in the first half," Coach O'Toole said. "We got the ball where we wanted it (in the post). But give St. Eds the credit, they're long and they're tough. They made it difficult for us in there.
"Quite frankly, defensively I am not as worried,' Coach O'Toole continued. "I thought we did a decent job on an excellent team. That is definitely the best team we've played. Now we've got to figure out what is our identity offensively. Twenty-two turnovers and 21 percent shooting is not our identity, we're a 50 percent or higher shooting team. But that team makes it difficult for you to score, especially the way we want to score."
Coach O'Toole emphasized that he admires the way St. Edward played on Saturday night and that he, his staff and his players are going to work hard to get to that point.
The Eagles, who were ranked 18th in the nation by USA Today this past week, rode 12 first-half points by multi-skilled senior forward Marsalis Hamilton to a 28-16 lead after the first 16 minutes. Hamilton finished with a game-high 18 points. The final points of the first half were scored on a basket by St. Edward's savvy senior guard Tony Vuyancih, who in one motion grabbed a loose ball and hit a buzzer-beating floating one-hander from the right baseline.
Behind the aggressive play of Hamilton and senior point guard Malcolm Walters, the Eagles flew to a 40-23 lead with 2 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter. St. Edward took a 42-23 lead into the final eight minutes after Walters scored off a picture-perfect assist from Hamilton.
After Walters' third 3-pointer of the night and his crowd-pleasing one-handed slam off a follow, Coach Eric Flannery's team led, 55-31, and Coach O'Toole began to clear his bench with 3:06 remaining to be played.
"We're not built to come from behind," Coach O'Toole said. "We're going to have to figure out how to do it, but we're just not built that way yet."
JUNIOR VARSITY GAME, SAINT IGNATIUS 62, ST. EDWARD 46
Coach Chris Salata's JV 'Cats stand 11-0 after coming on strong in the second quarter and wearing down the Eagles with an inside and outside attack.
A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Ryan Berger knotted the score at 15 with 5 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Ryan's trey was the start of a 17-0 run that also featured five consecutive points from sophomore post Tim Kiefer, a Ryan Berger layup off a steal and an assist by sophomore forward Ian Burry, a 3-pointer by sophomore guard/forward Michael Hollis, a strong move along the baseline by Burry and a basket by Ryan Berger off an assist from his twin brother, Jim.
Behind the authoritative work off the glass by sophomore post Sharief Irish, some more on-the-money assists from Jim Berger, the long-range scoring of Ryan Berger and Kyle Kalish, a strong driving one-hander by Kalish, a steal by sophomore forward/guard Jake Gawlik and a heads-up hustle put back by Hollis, Saint Ignatius led, 52-32, entering the fourth quarter.
The 'Cats added some frosting to the victory cake when Hollis buried another 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Berger led the Wildcats with 15 points, Kiefer and Kalish each tossed in 10 points and Irish and Hollis both had eight-point efforts.
THE ICE CATS SECURE THE NO. 1 SEED IN THEIR BACKET FOR SUNDAY'S SEMIFINALS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL BULLDOG HOCKEY INVITATIONAL IN MEADVILLE (Pa.).
On the strength of its previous two victories (see the corner's earlier posts) and its 1-1 tie with Sylvania Northview on Saturday night, Saint Ignatius' varsity hockey team, now 18-3-5 on the season, will face Upper St. Clair in a 10 AM semifinal match up in the DeArment Ice Arena.
St. Edward, which secured the No. 1 seed in its bracket, will play Northview at 8 AM. The finals are scheduled for 3 PM.
WILDCATS WRESTLERS ARE IN THIRD PLACE AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF THE CIT AT CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY.
Saint Ignatius trails Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller and Toledo Central Catholic after the first day of the annual Catholic Invitational Tournament.
Highlighting Sunday's semifinals will be four matches featuring area wrestlers.
Padua's Tony DeCesare takes on the Wildcats' Quade Rasmussen in a 106-pound semifinal, Elyria Catholic's Stan Bleich and Padua's Paul Petras meet in a 113-pound semifinal, Padua's Kyle Kaminski faces Saint Ignatius' Tristan Brady at 145 pounds, and Jake Hartman of Padua will wrestle the young man who puts the roar in Wildcats' wrestling -senior captain Anthony McLaughlin - in a 182-pound semifinal.
Matches are scheduled to resume at 9 AM on Sunday. Here is the scoring for the top five teams entering Sunday's action. 1. Archbishop Moeller 122.5; 2. Toledo Central Catholic 98.5; 3. Saint Ignatius 94; 4. Lake Catholic 81.5; 5. Columbus Bishop Hartley 81.
In swimming and diving, the Wildcats were defeated by St. Edward, 99-84, on Saturday evening at Cleveland State University.