Ohio City - Francisco Santiago and Derek Sloan combine for 41 points and Austin Sterpka, the Black twins - Eric and David - and junior guards Kyle Berger and Danny Bova provide huge minutes as Saint Ignatius goes on to a 73-62 victory over the Tarblooders in Sullivan Gymnasium.

The Wildcats (18-3), ranked No. 1 in The Plain Dealer's Top 25 seven-county poll, will take a nine-game winning streak into Saturday's regular season finale against the Benedictine Bengals at Sullivan Gym. The special Senior Night will get underway with a 6 bells junior varsity match up, followed by the varsity game at 7:30.

Coach Larry Arthur's junior varsity team now stands 17-3 after wearing down Glenville's jayvees, 76-46.

****And a huge congratulations goes out to seniors Jim Ferritto (113 pounds) and Tommy Zeigler (126) and junior Anthony McLaughlin (170), who came away with quarterfinal victories in the first round of the Mentor District on Friday night. Jim won his first match, 7-0, and his quarterfinal match, 5-3, Tommy produced two major decisions,13-1 and 14-3, and Anthony prevailed with two decisions, 6-2 and 8-2. Senior Isen Vajusi won his first match by a 7-4 decision and then lost by a decision in the quarterfinals.

Wrestling resumes at the Mentor state-qualifying district on Saturday at 9 a.m.

**** And for a look at how the Wildcats' swimmers fared during Friday's prelims at the State Meet in Canton, see the report below.

HERE IS THE FULL STORY ON THE VARSITY BASKETBALL GAME. THE JV BASKETBALL RECAP FOLLOWS THE VARSITY STORY.

Ok, only one quarter was in the books.

However, after the Glenville Tarblooders came out and went toe-to-toe with Saint Ignatius from the get-go, the area’s top-ranked Wildcats knew it was game on.

And Coach Sean O’Toole’s ‘Cats realized they had to take their game to a higher level after Coach Michael Holt’s Tarblooders, trailing by one point after the first eight minutes, grabbed a one-point advantage on a
scooping one-hander down the lane by senior point guard Glen Williams with 5 minutes and 9 seconds remaining in the first half.

Coach O’Toole ’87 quickly called for a timeout at that point and the Wildcats began to play like the team that also earned a seventh-place ranking in the Associated Press Division I state poll.

“I was very impressed,” said Coach O’Toole of the Senate Champion Tarblooders, who were eventually turned away by Saint Ignatius, 73-62, in Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday night. “I scouted them and knew they were
athletic, and they were well, well prepared. Some of the things we like to do they were able to take away and they really brought energy and a physical nature to this game.

“This was a physical game,” Coach O’Toole continued. “They attacked the basket and obviously they hurt us on the offensive glass. But I give our kids credit to be able to weather the storm. And you know you got
Cisco (standout senior guard Francisco Santiago) and Derek (gifted senior post Derek Sloan) out there leading. Those are two pretty good guys to hop on their backs and ride the wave. As anyone on this team will tell you, it’s whatever it takes to win. That’s the philosophy we’ve had all year and the kids buy into it. We’re (the coaches) fortunate, we’re very, very fortunate.”

Fortunate, talented and deep, the Wildcats (18-3) turned away Glenville’s threatening surges time and again as the Tarblooders lost for just the fourth time in 20 games.

Saint Ignatius, which will be attempting to set a regular season school record for victories when it hosts Benedictine on Saturday night, rode jumpers by Santiago and Sloan, a steal by heady junior point guard Danny Bova and a running-the-floor layup by 6-foot-6 junior post Eric Black off an assist from Bova into a 25-20 lead late in the first half.

Glenville kept attacking, however, and after multi-skilled junior forward Jimond Ivey buried a 3-pointer he and his Tarblooder teammates trailed by just two points.

Santiago, who is blessed with the ability to score in a variety of ways and has nerves of steel, answered Ivey’s effort with a deep 3-pointer of his own with 51 seconds left before halftime. Senior forward Austin Sterpka, who helps fuel Coach O’Toole’s 10-man rotation, then scored off one of his determined one-handed drives down the lane and after Glenville’s senior post Ronnie Hines split a pair of free throws, the teams went to their locker rooms with the Wildcats leading, 32-26.

“I know those kids, I grew up around them,” said Santiago of a Glenville team he has nothing but respect for. “If I had gone to a public school, it would have been Glenville. I’ve played with those guys, so you get a sense of that motivation. This is the last time we’ll (the seniors) be playing them, so we had to answer everything they were throwing at us, alley oops and all of that. But we kept it to a minimum and kept attacking them as
well.”

The Wildcats quickly created their own storm in the third quarter as a free throw by Sloan, a forced turnover by tough and savvy junior guard Kyle Berger, a smooth fall-away jumper by Santiago, an exceptional hustle
effort by Berger for a loose ball, a heads up offensive rebound by Berger that resulted in another free throw by Sloan and a power move along the baseline by Eric Black had Saint Ignatius in front, 40-28.

Coach Holt’s Tarblooders were not about to call it a night.

After Williams and Wildcats junior post David Black, Eric’s twin brother, exchanged 3-pointers, Glenville, behind a steal and a slam by versatile senior wing Craig Eubanks, cut a 10-point deficit late in the
third quarter to 46-41 with 7:19 remaining to be played.

It was game on again and the Wildcats were more than willing to accept another challenge.

Berger, moving without the ball, took an on-the-money assist from Santiago and converted it into a three-point play that extended the ‘Cats’ lead to eight points.

The Tarblooders answered with a 3-pointer by senior guard Demetrius Banks that almost kissed the ceiling and Sloan wasted little time in responding with one of his familiar moves down the lane.

A highlight-reel spin move by Ivey cut Saint Ignatius’ lead to five points, but Berger, a heavily recruited first-team All-Ohio linebacker, calmly hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 5:48 left.

Coach Holt’s team kept attacking, but the Wildcats’ counter punches, courtesy of Santiago, Sloan, David Black and Sterpka, took their toll down the stretch.

A spin and score by Santiago had Coach O’Toole’s team breathing a little easier at 57-48 with 4:23 to go and a basket by David Black off another Santiago dish kept it at a nine-point advantage.

The Wildcats, the No. 1 seed at next week’s demanding Solon sectional /district, settled the issue on two free throws by Sloan, a jumper by Santiago, layups by Sterpka off assists from Sloan and Santiago, and a steal
and score by Santiago.

Santiago finished with 22 points, Sloan tossed in 19, Sterpka had 10 points and the Black twins combined for 15 points, eight by Eric.

Ivey and Eubanks led the Tarblooders with 22 and 15 points, respectively.

Before focusing their attention on the Benedictine Bengals, the Wildcats and everyone associated with Coach O'Toole's program gathered around gritty senior point guard Bryan Fisher and sang Happy Birthday to one of the greatest 18-year-old young men you would ever want to meet. And Bryan's mom capped the night with some great frosted cup cakes.

DAN FOX IN THE HOUSE: Speaking of great young men this corner has had the privilege to cover and report on, former Saint Ignatius All-Ohio safety and current Notre Dame standout linebacker Dan Fox '09 was in Sullivan Gym on Friday night to watch the Wildcats.

Dan, who was also a mainstay for Coach O'Toole in basketball, said he is going to use his last year of eligibility and return to a Fighting Irish defense that returns eight starters, including himself.

It was great to see and talk with Dan, who gave this corner plenty to write about during his senior year, including what was a 10th Division I state football championship for Coach Chuck Kyle's nationally acclaimed program.

JUNIOR VARSITY GAME

Saint Ignatius 76, Glenville 46: With sophomore guard Andre Wolfrod leading the way, the JV 'Cats jumped out to a 28-10 lead and never looked back.

Coach Arthur's team pushed its advantage to 41-17 by hafltime and took a 61-34 lead into the final seven minutes.

Wolford led 13 players in Saint Ignatius' scoring column with a game-high 20 points. Freshman guard Deven Stover had 15 points.

Also making their presence felt were sophomore post Mikal Outcalt and sophomore guard Sam Fuller, who turned in seven-point efforts, and sophomore forward Dre'Mont Jones and sophomore post Colin Sweeney, who had six-point nights.

Chris Coker led the Tarblooders with 13 points and teammates Roy Hatchett and Chris Murphy each tossed in 10 points.