The Wildcats, coming off a 21-point victory at Shaw in the season opener, will host a John Adams team on Saturday night that entered the week ranked 24th in the cleveland.com Top 25 area poll. Saint Ignatius is ranked seventh, the same spot it held in the preseason poll.
Seniors Pat McGuire and Paddy White are expected to bring you Saturday's game live over the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network. Action gets underway with a 6 PM junior varsity tip off, followed by the varsity game at 7:30.
Sullivan Gymnasium - Saint Ignatius head basketball coach Sean O'Toole '87 and his Wildcats have one main focus this week- taking what they need to improve on from the 71-50, season-opening victory at Shaw last weekend and working throughout every minute of practice this week in making sure that improvement becomes a reality.
"We're still working on our rotation," said Coach O'Toole, who emphasized that talented and team-first senior forward and captain Isiah Barbra will be sidelined for the second consecutive week with a sore knee. Isiah could be back for next weekend's home games versus John Hay (Dec. 20) and Canton McKinley (Dec. 21).
"Isiah is obviously a big part of what we want to do this year," Coach O'Toole said of the endless hustle and coach-on-the-floor attributes that Barbra possesses. "Other guys are going to get minutes and reps until he gets back, especially our younger guys. We want them (the less experienced players) to get comfortable with our style of play. It's a little bit of a transition for them, so again, we want them to get comfortable with what our expectations are."
Although some of the Wildcats who are being counted on heavily this winter are not as big-game tested as the nucleus of last year's 21-4 district-finalist team, Saint Ignatius does have multiple players, who, when called on, can contribute significantly. Among them is one of the top sophomores in Northeast Ohio - 6-foot-4 guard Deven Stover.
"We're just trying to be solid in our principles," said Coach O'Toole, who is blending his promising youth and depth around Barbra and his other senior captains - twin brothers Eric and David Black in the front court and point guard Danny Bova. Isiah, Eric, David and Danny have already performed admirably in several pressure-packed games throughout their varsity careers.
As for the Wildcats' defense, there is no team in Ohio, year in and year out, that works harder at improving that aspect of its game.
"We prefer to play fast, we prefer to play full court, but given some of our circumstances, we just have to get good at what we do and be consistent at it," Coach O'Toole said, pointing to the improvement he and his staff want to see from the 'Cats' half-court defense.
"Obviously, the game will dictate whether or not we need to extend our defense," said Coach O'Toole, who has begun his sixth season as his alma mater's head basketball coach. "But we have to make sure that we're taking away (from the opponent) what we need to take away in the half court - limiting touches. We're still a work in progress at that defensive end."
As for John Adams, the Rebels opened their season with an impressive 10-point victory over a solid Bedford team at Bedford. Gifted guard/forward Devon Robinson showed the way with 34 points. Devon averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds last season. Two other Rebels who play with a cause are guards Brooklyn Sims (an active player with range) and Westly Black (a strong athlete who is the primary ball handler).
HOWEVER, in fairness to all of our readers we honestly can't say which John Adams team will be on hand in Sullivan Gymnasium on Saturday night - the one that defeated Bedford or the one that had to play short handed against East Tech on Tuesday night and was dealt a sound defeat by the Scarabs.
The Rebels were hit with some suspensions because of an incident that took place during their game versus St. Edward last weekend. John Adams is not only following the rules set down by the OHSAA, but is handling it in a very admirable in-house manner.
"When I saw John Adams play (against Bedford), I saw a skilled team that is disciplined," Coach O'Toole said of the Rebels, who are 2-2 heading into Friday's game against Rhodes. "They handle the ball well, they attack the basket well and they do it with a sense of patience. The victory over Bedford was a great win for them."
PERFORMER OF THE WEEK: The corner's honor goes out to 6-7 senior post/forward Eric Black, who scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down 7 rebounds in keying the victory at Shaw.
Eric was 9-of-14 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe.
"I thought Eric played a very balanced game," said Coach O'Toole. "He is extremely athletic and he played strong, on balance and was able to finish. All in all, mission accomplished. We got a win on the road and everyone got to play. Now we have some comfort zone coming home."