Solon, Ohio - Coach Sean O'Toole's Wildcats controlled most of the first 24 minutes on Wednesday night and led by 19 points with less than four minutes remaining before Coach Andy Suttell's Tigers caught fire and closed to 62-56 with 1 minute and 10 seconds left.
Top-seeded Saint Ignatius, riding clutch free throws down the stretch, advances to Saturday's District Championship Game at Solon, where the Wildcats will play the winner of Thursday night's semifinal between third-seeded Shaker Heights and fifth-seeded Bedford. The tip off on Saturday will be 2:30 p.m.
Derek Sloan's game-high 25 points help the 'Cats improve to 21-3 and extend their winning streak to 12 games. Fourth-seeded Cleveland Heights, which got a 20-point night from strong and relentless guard Marcus Bagley, closed its season at 16-7.
Here is the game recap.
Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior post and tri-captain Derek Sloan said he just knew Cleveland Heights was going to make its runs and that is why it was so important for him and his teammates to start as fast as they did in Wednesday night’s 71-61 victory over the Tigers in a Division I district semifinal basketball game at Solon High School.
En route to controlling most of the first three quarters, Saint Ignatius, the No. 1 seed at Solon and the top-ranked program in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 seven-county poll for 2012-13, jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
Cleveland Heights, the fourth seed at Solon and The PD’s sixth-ranked team, didn’t score until there was just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.
Truth told, the Wildcats, who will be playing in their third district championship game in what is Sean O’Toole’s fifth season as the head basketball coach at his alma mater, swatted away most of Cleveland Heights’ early runs with the same authority the 6-foot-5 Sloan rejects opponents’ shots.
With Sloan scoring inside and outside and joining 6-6 junior post Eric Black in cleaning the defensive glass, senior guard and tri-captain Francisco Santiago turning steals into layups, junior guard Kyle Berger making his presence felt defensively and in the assist department, junior point guard and tri-captain Danny Bova directing traffic and senior point guard Bryan Fisher scoring on a driving layup off a perfect dish from 6-5 junior post David Black (Eric’s twin brother) and taking a Santiago assist and turning it into a smooth teardrop down the lane, Saint Ignatius was purring like a cat at the midpoint of the second quarter.
The ‘Cats drew a large round of applause from their faithful and even a few claps from the neutral audience when a highlight-reel, three-pass play of Bova to Santiago to David Black resulted in a two-handed
slam down the lane by David and a 16-point lead for Saint Ignatius.
Cleveland Heights, which was also defeated by Saint Ignatius, 58-54, in a regular season encounter last month on the Tigers’ Cappelletti Court, made its first significant run late in the first half and closed to 11
points by halftime.
After gritty guard Marcus Bagley buried a 3-pointer, Coach Andy Suttell’s team trailed by nine points in the third quarter.
But then Sloan, a first-team All-Northeast Lakes District selection, took center stage again and laid in two more of his game-high 25 points off an athletic one-handed scoop along the baseline.
Following two free throws by Sloan, a Sloan layup off an assist from senior forward Austin Sterpka, a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner by Sterpka and a three-point play by David Black, the Wildcats were back
in control with a 15 point lead. They increased that margin to 18 points after Santiago beat the third-quarter buzzer with a leaning 3-pointer.
Cleveland Heights made another mini run and after a 3-pointer by senior guard Donald Jones, cut the 18-point deficit to 12 points.
Coach O’Toole immediately called a timeout after Jones’ trey and his Wildcats responded with a 9-2 surge that included a three-point play by Sloan, a wouldn’t be denied two points down low by Eric Black, a jumper by Santiago and an authoritative drive down the lane by Berger.
"Cleveland Heights was great, their kids never quit,” said Coach O’Toole, who garnered Coach of the Year honors in the Northeast Lakes District. “And give our kids credit for weathering the storm.”
The Tigers created a storm that brought their fans to their feet with renewed hope and energy.
Trailing by 19 points with less than four minutes remaining, Coach Suttell’s team went on a dramatic 15-2 run and trailed by six points after the 5-11, 200-plus pound Bagley came up with the second of his two strong put backs with 1:10 left.
Bagley, despite playing on a bad knee, was a force down the stretch. A football and basketball mainstay, he scored a team high 20 points and was supported by 12-point efforts from backcourt mates Delaunte Davis and Camerin Cross.
Keeping its composure, Saint Ignatius took advantage of two technical fouls on the Tigers, including one for a delay of game after water was spilled on the floor, and advanced to Saturday’s 2:30 district title game at Solon behind the clutch free-throw shooting of Santiago and a breakaway slam dunk by Sloan.
Santiago, the Division I Player of the Year in the Northeast Lakes District, finished with 16 points and 13 assists.
"You can’t teach what Derek does,” Coach O’Toole said of Sloan. “You can’t teach the way he rebounds, goes to the basket and then scores from the perimeter. His demeanor never changes. Derek is quiet and so level headed. I always tell the college coaches that there is no maintenance with Derek, that this is a kid focused on school and basketball.”