Derek Sloan and Francisco Santiago combine for 41 points as Coach Sean O'Toole's varsity basketball team wears down host Walsh Jesuit, 64-46, and the Ice Cats break open a tight game by scoring three times in the third period and go on to a 4-0 victory over Shaker Heights in the Thornton Park Ice Arena. Coach Pat O'Rourke's team extends its winning streak to 13 games.
Here are the recaps on the impressive efforts Coach O'Toole's and Coach O'Rourke's teams put forth.
Coach O’Toole’s ‘Cats, ranked third in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 poll and eighth in the Associated Press Division I state poll, improved to 11-3 heading into Sunday afternoon’s 3:15 tipoff against St. Clairsville (11-1) in the “Dunk 4 Diabetes Shootout” at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. St. Clairsville is the fifth-ranked team in the AP’s Division II state poll.
The Red Devils are led by 6-3 senior Dan Monteroso, who needs 15 points to become the 45th player in the history of the OHSAA to reach the 2,000-point plateau. Monteroso, who shared Ohio’s Division
II Player of the Year award last winter after leading the Red Devils to the state semifinals, is also a standout wide receiver in football who just this week gave a verbal commitment to Purdue’s football program. Dan caught 68 passes for 1,483 yards and 17 touchdowns this past fall as St. Clairsville went 14-1 and finished as the Division IV state runner-up.
In handing a Walsh Jesuit team that was ranked 20th this week by The Plain Dealer just its third loss in 14 games, Saint Ignatius got into an offensive and defensive flow that saw the ‘Cats move to a 36-21 lead by halftime.
Saint Ignatius, which led by as many as 28 points, hit on 17 2-point shots, had five 3-pointers and was a crisp 15-of-17 from the free-throw line.
Senior post/forward and tri-captain Derek Sloan scored a game-high 21 points and was again a force off the backboards.
Senior guard and tri-captain Francisco Santiago, who entered Saturday night’s match up as the Wildcats’ leading scorer with an average of 15.2 points a game, scored 12 of his 20 points in the first half.
Sloan and Santiago were a combined 11-of-13 from the charity stripe and “Cisco” also had two 3-pointers.
Six-foot-6 junior post Eric Black, who is doing a solid job filling in for gifted senior post Alec Papesch (broken wrist), scored 10 points. Eric was 4-4 from the foul line.
Coach O'Toole '87 will enter the St. Clairsville game with a record of 77-29 at his alma mater.
Despite being without their head coach Larry Arthur, who was ill, the Wildcats’ junior varsity team improved to 12-2 with a 66-51 triumph over Walsh Jesuit’s highly regarded JV program. Veteran coaches John Cooney and Chris Fletcher guided the victory over a Walsh jayvee team that entered the opening tipoff unbeaten this winter.
The JV ‘Cats increased a three-point lead after the first quarter to 27-17 by halftime.
Sophomore forward Dre’Mont Jones, freshman guard Deven Stover and sophomore forward Dylan
Nieto showed the way with 20, 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Jones had seven field goals and was 6-of-9 from the free-throw line, Stover had three 3-pointers and Nieto sank all five of his free-throw attempts. The ‘Cats were 19-of-27 from the charity stripe.
HERE IS THE RECAP OF THE BIG 4-0 VICTORY BY THE ICE CATS ON SHAKER HEIGHTS’ HOME ICE. SCORING COURTESY OF HEAD COACH PAT O’ROURKE ‘90.
After being unable to cash in on two power-play opportunities, the Wildcats (23-4-3) got on the board with 3 minutes and seven seconds remaining in the opening period. Sophomore forward Kevin Yarcusko slapped home a sitting-pretty rebound off a shot by senior captain Miles McQuinn.
Depsite being hit with eight penalties in the second period, Shaker Heights (19-5) battled the state's top-ranked Ice Cats through a scoreless 15 minutes.
Any momentum the Raiders had from their gallant second-period effort was quickly disposed of in the decisive third period.
Wildcats sophomore forward Matty Geither scored off a nice pass from fellow sophomore forward Jack Wiegandt and just over a minute later, Wiegandt scored in traffic in front of the net.
The game's fourth and final score came off an empty-netter from junior defenseman Nick Gajkowski as the final minute was ticking away.
Saint Ignatius, which all but put a sealer on the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League’s Red North West Division, got another outstanding performance in goal by senior Bernie Cook, who had 20 saves.
Shaker Heights’ gifted keeper Eric Sterin had 23 saves, including 15 in the second period when his
efforts offset the Raiders’ penalty woes.
Fans attending the game said Saint Ignatius' student body wiped out the home-ice advantage by giving the Ice Cats tremendous support.
The Ice Cats will host Strongsville on Tuesday at 5 in Brooklyn’s John M. Coyne Recreation Center and will return to the “Big Barn on Memphis” on Saturday afternoon for the regular season
finale against St. Edward. The puck is scheduled to drop at 4:45 on Saturday.
Saint Ignatius is 2-0 against the Eagles this season, including a 4-2 victory in last weekend’s championship game of the 17th annual Meadville (Pa.) Bulldog Hockey Invitational. The Ice Cats trailed St. Edward, 2-0, in the second period before responding with the four unanswered goals.