Anthony loses a 5-4 (two 30-second tiebreakers) decision to Tyler Hughes of Brunswick in Friday night's 170-pound championship semifinals of the OHSAA Individual State Wrestling Meet at Value City Arena in Columbus.
Wildcats 126-pound senior standout Tommy Zeigler wins his quarterfinal consolation match by decisioning David Sparks of Marysville, 4-3.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright March 2013
Coach Sean O'Toole's varsity basketball team takes care of business with an 84-50 triumph over Cleveland John F. Kennedy in Friday night's Solon Division I sectionals. The top-seeded Wildcats extend their winning streak to 11 games and improve their record to 20-3 heading into Wednesday night's district semifinal match up with the Cleveland Heights Tigers (16-6).
Led by Derek Sloan's 19 points and 12 points from sophomore forward Jaylin McDonald, 13 'Cats hit the scoring column.
Solon, Ohio – OK, so it might have taken Saint Ignatius a few minutes to get into the flow of the game and get a handle on just what John F. Kennedy was attempting to do in Friday evening’s Division I sectional final
basketball game at Solon High School.
Those few minutes were about all JFK can take from its encounter with the top-seeded Wildcats, who took control down the stretch of the first quarter and dominated the next 16 minutes en route to an 84-50
victory over the Fighting Eagles.
With his starting lineup eventually letting JFK know it was going to be a long night, his second rotation adding to that superiority and members of his third team leaving their first postseason mark, Coach Sean O’Toole ’87 watched his ‘Cats (20-3) advance to Wednesday’s highly anticipated rematch with Coach Andy Suttell’s fourth-seeded Cleveland Heights Tigers (16-6) in the Solon District semifinals. The tip off on Inwood Road will be 7 p.m.
Cleveland Heights, ranked sixth in The Plain Dealer’s final Top 25 seven-county poll, took care of business in Friday’s sectional-final nightcap at Solon by eliminating Kenston, 69-49.
Saint Ignatius, The PD’s top-ranked team, came away with a thrilling 58-54 regular season victory over the Tigers at Cleveland Heights’ Cappelletti Court on Valentine’s Day night.
As for JFK (12-10), the Fighting Eagles hung with the Wildcats for most of the first eight minutes until the barrage started courtesy of a 3-pointer by gifted junior guard Kyle Berger with 1 minute and 57 seconds
remaining in the opening quarter.
Junior forward/post David Black followed with a put back and after Berger hit promising 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Jaylin McDonald with a perfect back-door layup assist, Saint Ignatius took a nine-point lead into the
second quarter.
From that point on, it was “Katie bar the door” for the city’s Senate Athletic League runner-up.
Over the second and third quarters, the Wildcats, ranked seventh in the Associated Press Division I state poll, outscored JFK, 48-18.
Junior post Eric Black, David's twin brother, got the second quarter started with a strong effort off the offensive glass and smooth and savvy senior guard Francisco Santiago followed with back-to-back 3-pointers. Some of the other highlights before halftime included authoritative moves to the basket by multi-skilled senior post Derek Sloan and Berger, a follow in transition by Eric Black, a second-effort follow by junior post Jake Strippy and two free throws by Eric Black.
Sloan scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the first half and contributing all of their points in the first 16 minutes were Berger with nine and Eric Black and Santiago with eight-point efforts.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as Sloan provided thunder with a slam down the lane and McDonald, David Black and senior forward Austin Sterpka hit consecutive 3-pointers. After a David Black follow, a step-out 3-pointer by Sloan, a strong move to the basket by junior forward Isiah Barbra and a tip-in by McDonald, Saint Ignatius led, 70-32, late in the third quarter.
“He’s a great presence,” said Coach O’Toole of Sloan, who also swatted away three shots while playing just over two quarters. “Where Derek has grown is that he has always been a presence at the rim, but now he can hurt you from the perimeter as well. He has great balance, a great body and what is nice is that he will share it. He’ll bump backside for a layup and look back out for a three (3-pointer).
“The best way to win games is to let kids play in their comfort zones,” Coach O’Toole continued. “I think Derek and ‘Cisco’ (Santiago) are at that point and we also got great minutes tonight from Kyle Berger.”