Under the direction of Coach Pat Donnelly, a Rocky River native, the Cubs shot a sizzling 57 percent in the first half and never looked back after moving to a 53-29 lead through the first 16 minutes.

Playing with endless hustle and executing its game plan at both ends of the floor, Detroit Jesuit returns to the Motor City with a 4-1 record.

Saint Ignatius, which was hurt on the offensive glass and in transition, and lost the battle for the 50-50 loose balls, experienced its first setback in seven games this young season. The Wildcats have to put the stunning loss behind them in a hurry, as they face a very talented team from Cleveland Central Catholic in Sunday's annual Scholastic Play-By-Play Classic at Baldwin-Wallace University's Ursprung Gymnasium. Sunday's tipoff, which features the area's third (Central Catholic) and fourth-ranked teams, is 12:45 PM. The Ironmen from Central Catholic are 9-0 after surviving in overtime by two points at Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday night.

*Coach Chris Salata's Junior Varsity Wildcats improved to 8-0 by defeating the jayvee team from Detroit Jesuit, 68-47. A JV recap will follow the varsity game story.

Cleveland, Ohio - Never one to offer excuses and always quick to credit the opponent, Saint Ignatius' veteran head basketball coach Sean O'Toole '87 summed up Friday night's 82-52 loss to Detroit Jesuit very directly and accurately.

"Everything, really," Coach O'Toole said in discussing the areas in which the Cubs outplayed his team. "Transition, second shots, offensive rebounds, everything. We started with some high percentage shots, which we thought we could do. But in the end, we just didn't have an answer.

"They're well coached, they do a lot of things well and their balance is incredible," Coach O'Toole continued. "Obviously Winston is the catalyst and as the catalyst he did it all, whether it was scoring, distributing, making big steals or getting them to play at the pace they did."

Coach O'Toole was referring to Detroit Jesuit's outstanding and highly recruited sophomore point guard Cassius Winston, who played in front of the basketball-savvy eyes of The Ohio State University Men's Assistant Basketball Coach Greg Paulus. Greg watched the action from along the baseline at the scoreboard end of Sullivan Gymnasium.

Coach Paulus knows a thing or two about leaders and exceptional athletes, as he played point guard at Duke University and after graduating from Duke used his NCAA eligibility to play quarterback for the Syracuse University football team.

The 6-foot-1 Winston, described by Coach O'Toole as being as good a point guard as he has ever coached against, led four Cubs in double figures with a game-high 18 points. Cassius was smooth and quick on his feet, creative with both the dribble drive and the stop and pop, and could go after an offensive rebound as well as anyone on the Sullivan Gym floor. And he complements all of that with one-the-money dimes and some nasty quick-hands defense.

"And they have complementary parts, it's not a one-man show by any means," said Coach O'Toole. "They shot it extremely well (52 percent for the entire game) and they hurt us with pressure. You name it, it was just one of those games. The only positive I can find right now is that we have to play Sunday. So we have to watch it (on film), learn from it and forget about it."

With 6-7 senior post Eric Black scoring Saint Ignatius' first eight points and 6-3 senior forward Isiah Barbra scoring off an assist from senior point guard Danny Bova, the Wildcats and the Cubs played to an 11-11 tie for the first four minutes of the game.

After Detroit Jesuit moved to a 20-15 lead, 'Cats' junior forward Andre' Wolford buried a 3-pointer. The Cubs responded with a nothing-but-net 3-pointer from deep in the left corner by 6-0 senior guard Julian Morgan and led, 23-18, entering the second quarter, or the telling point, if you will.

Displaying the exceptional offensive balance Coach O'Toole referred to, creating turnovers faster than the snow accumulated this week, going to the offensive glass with passion and recovering what seemed to be every crucial loose ball, Detroit Jesuit outscored Saint Ignatius, 30-11 over the next eight minutes.

Coach Patrick Donnelly's Cubs, who improved to 4-1, put on a display of athleticism that silenced the home crowd as they closed out the final 2 minutes and 19 seconds of the first half on a 9-0 run.

Although the Wildcats (6-1) were only outscored, 29-23, in the second half, they trailed, 80-46, with 3:29 remaining to be played.

Along with Winston's 18 points, Detroit Jesuit got a 17-point effort from 5-9 senior guard Spencer Sanders, 12 points from highly regarded 6-4 senior guard/forward Noah King and 10 points from multi-skilled sophomore guard Billy Thomas. Morgan and 6-3 senior forward Nick Mutebi added nine and eight points, respectively.

Saint Ignatius got 11-point performances from Eric Black and sophomore guard Deven Stover, and 10 points from Wolford.

JUNIOR VARSITY GAME: Saint Ignatius 68, Detroit Jesuit 47.

Sophomore post Sharief Irish set the tempo for the Saint Ignatius jayvees with an authoritative one-handed slam down the lane in the first quarter.

A three-point play by sophomore guard Ryan Berger and a 3-pointer by sophomore point guard Kyle Kalish also added to a quarter that saw the Wildcats take a 19-9 lead.

Coach Chris Salata's 8-0 'Cats began to take control in the second quarter, as Ryan Berger, who teams with his twin brother, Jim, buried a 3-pointer and Irish scored off a nice move down low. Freshman post Matt Davet, who plays with a savvy beyond his years, turned a steal into a layup and Mike Hollis, the pride of St. Chris, sent the first of his three 3-pointers through the twine.

Leading, 35-25, at halftime, Saint Ignatius had the Cubs' jayvees on their heels after sophomore forward/post Tim Kiefer scored off a smooth driving one-hander off glass and Jim Berger sent home a trey.

After Hollis dropped in another shot from beyond the arc that never disturbed the rim and Kalish followed with his second 3-pointer off a steal by Davet and an assist from Hollis, the Wildcats led, 46-29, with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter.

Hollis' third 3-pointer made it a 50-34 game early in the fourth quarter, but Detroit Jesuit went on a 7-0 run that forced Coach Salata and his staff to call a timeout with five minutes left.

Saint Ignatius regrouped and regained control on a layup by Jim Berger off an assist from Irish, two free throws from Hollis, a layup by Davet off a dish from Ryan Berger, a strong box out and rebound by Kiefer, who then fired a picture-perfect assist to sophomore forward Ian Burry, and a driving one-hander down the lane by Kiefer.

Hollis and Irish led the 'Cats with 14 and 11 points, respectively, and Ryan Berger tossed in 10 points.