A huge offensive rebound by junior forward Jaylin McDonald followed by two clutch free throws from senior forward and captain Isiah Barbra, and two more sealers from the charity stripe by McDonald, help turn the Raiders away in the final seconds.

Saint Ignatius, which withstood a game-high 22 points from Harding's standout senior guard Anthony Bell, stands 5-0 heading into Tuesday afternoon's match up with the Fighting Irish from St. Vincent-St. Mary in LeBron James Arena. The New Year's Eve day tip off will be 3 PM. Harding is now 4-2 on the young season.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - Saint Ignatius head basketball coach Sean O'Toole '87 understands that there is an adage in sports that says you have to win some ugly.

That said, Coach O'Toole, following Saturday night's 60-52 victory over Warren G. Harding in Sullivan Gymnasium, emphasized that it was like his team went home for Christmas and lost its edge.

"For as well as we played last Saturday (a 51-point victory over storied Canton McKinley), it was a 180 degree twist tonight," Coach O'Toole said after his Wildcats survived a 41 percent shooting performance from 2-point range, a 21 percent effort on 3-pointers and a 15-for-26 night at the foul line.

"Warren Harding, give them credit," Coach O'Toole continued. "They gave us problems, match-up wise. But a lot of our struggles were self inflicted and that's what's tough. It's one thing to miss shots, it's another to take bad shots and not execute what we are trying to do at that offensive end. One of our staples is shooting a high percentage so we can play five on five. In that first half, we gave up way too many transition baskets."

The Wildcats, who improved to 5-0, held a 17-8 lead after the first quarter.

However, as Saint Ignatius' faithful were getting ready for the 'Cats to begin the commanding run they displayed in their first four victories, the Harding Raiders closed to 22-20 on a strong follow by their talented senior guard Anthony Bell with 5 minutes and 8 seconds remaining in the first half.

Coach O'Toole's Wildcats, who have been ranked among the area's best since the preseason, responded with a 3-pointer from senior forward Isiah Barbra and a basket by 6-foot-7 senior post Eric Black.

When the first 16 minutes were in the books, Saint Ignatius found itself clinging to a four-point advantage.

The Wildcats would increase their lead to 33-26 early in the third quarter, only to watch the Raiders cut the deficit to 33-32 behind the play of Bell, sophomore forward Shakem Johnson and junior guard/forward Shondell Jackson.

After Saint Ignatius sophomore guard Deven Stover gave his team a three-point lead with an authoritative put back, Warren Harding made another mini run and, on the strength of two free throws by 6-8 freshman post Derek Culver, knotted the score at 35 with 3:46 left in the third quarter.

"They (the Raiders) were in the bonus way too early in the game," said Coach O'Toole. "One of our goals for every game is to limit the fouls. You want to make teams use possessions to score."

Leading by three points entering the final eight minutes, the Wildcats got an exceptional hustle play from Barbra off a loose ball, an effort that Isiah converted into a three-point play and a 41-35 Saint Ignatius lead with 7:17 left.

Harding (4-2), which was coming off a Lake Erie League victory over Warrensville Heights on Friday night, came right back with another counter punch and trailed by just one point, 41-40, after Bell buried a 3-pointer with 6:28 to go. Bell led all scorers with 22 points, 12 of those coming in the first half.

Saint Ignatius, which travels to LeBron James Arena for a New Year's Eve 3 PM tip off against the Fighting Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary, built its lead back to six points on a 3-pointer by Stover and a lay up by 6-6 senior post/forward David Black off an assist from senior point guard Danny Bova. David is Eric Black's twin brother.

The Raiders, who were 16-of-28 from the charity stripe, closed to 47-45 with 3:15 left.

At that point, the Wildcats sandwiched two Eric Black lay ups around a Harding turnover and, after Bell hit a long-range 3-pointer off glass, Saint Ignatius got some much-needed breathing room on two free throws by Eric Black and a breakaway lay up by Barbra off another Bova assist. Danny beat Harding's full-court trapping pressure in getting the ball to Isiah.

The 'Cats then sealed the deal in the final 29.6 seconds behind a Bova free throw, a big-time offensive rebound by 6-6 junior forward Jaylin McDonald and two free throws each from Barbra and McDonald.

Eric Black led Saint Ignatius with 17 points and Barbra and Stover each tossed in 14 points.

"We ended up with three guys in double figures, but still it was a struggle to score and a struggle to defend," said Coach O'Toole.

****In varsity hockey action on Saturday, Saint Ignatius bounced back from a 2-1 opening-round loss to Olentangy Orange by dominating defending state champion Shaker Heights, 11-1, and blanking Upper Arlington, 4-0, in the second round of the St. Edward Eagle Classic in Serpentini Arena at Winterhurst.

With Saturday's victories, Coach Pat O'Rourke's Ice Cats improved to 14-2-4 and earned a rematch with Olentangy Orange, which will take place on Sunday at 11 AM in Serpentini Arena.

Here are the scoring summaries from Saturday's games.

SHAKER HEIGHTS GAME, 11-1: Goals - Matty Geither 3, Ethan Whitney 2, Jack Mazanec, Aidan Spellacy, Jared Stepka, Cam Gerard, Harry Smith and Beck Schultz. Saves/Shots: Wes Deacon 14/15.

UPPER ARLINGTON GAME, 4-0: Goals - Kevin Yarcusko, Matty Geither, Ethan Whitney and Harry Smith. Saves/Shots: Dylan McKeon 14/14.

****In junior varsity basketball, Coach Chris Salata's team kept pace with the varsity by wearing down the jayvee team from Warren G. Harding, 68-44, in Sullivan Gym on Saturday evening. The JV 'Cats will take a 5-0 record into LeBron James Arena for Tuesday's 1 PM match up with St. Vincent-St. Mary's jayvees.

Showing the way against Harding were Matt Davet with 12 points, Tim Kiefer and Ian Burry with 10 points each, Jim Berger with 9 points and Sharief Irish and Mike Hollis, who each tossed in 7 points. Jim Berger and his twin brother, Ryan, dished out some assists that would have left the Wildcats' state-champion backcourt of Sonny Benton and Jon Gannon smiling.