Coach Sean O'Toole's varsity basketball team rides a commanding 20-0 run in the first half to a 75-56 victory over the Red Devils in the annual "Dunk 4 Diabetes Showcase" at Walsh University on Sunday afternoon.
Senior post Derek Sloan delivers a game MVP performance of 19 points and 13 rebounds, and senior guard Francisco Santiago provides a team-high 23 points as the Wildcats improve to 12-3 by going 3-0 this weekend.
St. Clairsville standout Dan Monteroso becomes the 45th player in the history of the OHSAA to reach 2,000 points for a varsity career as his game-high 24 points now put him at 2,009.
HERE IS THE GAME STORY.
North Canton, Ohio - When Saint Ignatius head basketball coach Sean O’Toole ’87 was told that his Wildcats held St. Clairsville scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the second quarter, the man who has a record of 78-29 at his alma mater turned and pointed to the Saint Ignatius locker room.
“That’s all of the kids buying in,” Coach O’Toole said after his team’s defensive pressure and overpowering offensive attack led the Wildcats to a 75-56 victory over the Red Devils in Sunday’s final round of the
“Dunk 4 Diabetes Showcase” at Walsh University.
The game matched two of the higher ranked teams in Ohio as Saint Ignatius (12-3) came in with an eighth-place ranking in the Associated Press Division I state poll and St. Clairsville (11-2) was fifth by the AP in Division II.
“We had to feel them out,” said Coach O’Toole of a Red Devils program that finished 23-3 last season after advancing to the Division II state semifinals. “This was a team that we had never played. Obviously we had them scouted and we have all the respect for how well they’re coached and how well they execute. They came out and shared the ball extremely well and made the right plays.
“We couldn’t give them the looks they were given,” Coach O’Toole continued. “Credit those kids in that locker room for executing the adjustment. It was big, no doubt.”
The looks the Red Devils were given in the early going resulted in five 3-pointers and a 19-15 lead late in the first quarter.
It was at that point, however, that Saint Ignatius’ defensive energy soared to another level and its deep and talented bench only added to what was the turning point of the game – a 20-0 run by the Wildcats that had them purring to the tune of a 16-point lead late in the second quarter.
Saint Ignatius’ defensive adjustments were so stifling that St. Clairsville didn’t score a point in the second quarter until there were 3 minutes and 25 seconds remaining in the first half.
“You live and die by the three (3-point shots), and early they were living by it,” said Wildcats gifted senior guard and tri-captain Francisco Santiago. “We realized that they didn’t want to get to the bucket to score, they wanted to get there to pick. So we started to sag off and hedge a little bit, and then get back to the shooter. They didn’t want to shoot over contested jump shots.”
While Saint Ignatius' defense was contesting every shot and taking the Red Devils out of their offensive flow with relentless full-court pressure, its offense, led by Santiago, standout senior post and tri-captain Derek Sloan and the second-five rotation skills of senior point guard Bryan Fisher and senior forward Austin Sterpka, was fueling the dominant and decisive first-half run.
When Santiago wasn’t burying in-rhythm jump shots, gliding to the basket for smooth one-handed floaters and dishing out assists, the 6-foot-5 Sloan was posting strong down low and controlling both backboards.
Then it was Sterpka and Fisher providing steals, assists and authoritative drives off what appeared to be endless hustle.
Oh, as though that wasn’t enough, Coach O’Toole and his staff were treated to another solid floor game by junior point guard and tri-captain Danny Bova, the savvy and strong work inside by 6-6 junior post Eric Black and his twin brother David, and the hard-nosed defense, rebounding, passing and scoring of junior guard Kyle Berger. Berger was a first-team All-Ohio outside linebacker in football this past fall and he currently has offers from several major-college football programs, including Coach Urban Meyer’s Ohio State Buckeyes.
Santiago, who said he and Sloan knew even as freshmen that this was going to be their team and they would have to “bring it” in 2012-13, led Saint Ignatius with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Sloan, who was selected as the Wildcats’ MVP for the game, had a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Derek also had a highlight-reel two-handed slam in transition and a couple of high-elevation blocked shots that left the Red Devils’ faithful shaking their heads.
“They have one great player that we all had to guard, and we did a good job of that,” said Sloan of St. Clairsville’s outstanding senior forward Dan Monteroso, who scored a hard-earned 24 points and was chosen as the Red Devils’ game MVP. Monteroso entered this week averaging 27.4 points per game.
Monteroso, who is also a talented wide receiver in football who recently made a verbal commitment to Purdue’s football program, provided St. Clairsville with a special moment when his free throw with 12.4 seconds left in the third quarter gave him 2,000 career points. Red Devils fans, along with other savvy gym rats in attendance, stood and applauded for Dan, whose 24 points on Sunday currently places him at 2,009.
Monteroso became just the 45th player in Ohio high school basketball history to reach the 2,000 plateau.
“It feels great,” said the soft-spoken Sloan of his MVP award. “But I couldn’t have done it without teammates like “Cisco" (Santiago), finding me with great passes and everything. It was truly a team effort.”
That it was, on both ends of the floor.