Austin finishes with a career-high 21 points, including a career-best 5 3-pointers, as Saint Ignatius unleashes a 30-2 run in taking total command of Strongsville in Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday night.
Everyone plays and 11 players hit the scoring column in what was the Wildcats' 10th victory in 13 games. Saint Ignatius entered the game ranked third in The Plain Dealer's Top 25 seven-county poll and eighth in the Associated Press Division I state poll.
Coach Sean O'Toole's basketball program raises money for the continuous fight against cancer during the annual "Coaches vs. Cancer" night at Cleveland's Jesuit Preparatory School.
The Wildcats' freshman Blue and junior varsity teams also defeat the Mustangs.
*Saint Ignatius' varsity hockey team, the top-ranked program in the coaches' state poll, shut down Gilmour Academy, 5-0, on the Lancers' home ice Friday night and extended its winning streak to 12 games heading into Saturday's 4:45 faceoff with Shaker Heights at the Thornton Park Ice Arena.
*Congratulations go out to the Wildcats' swimming and diving team, which according to SSID President Jumpin' John Fanta '13, defeated the Mentor Cardinals, 128-57, on Friday night.
*And Georgia Tech joins the list of major college football programs who have made a scholarship offer to Wildcats All-Ohio junior linebacker Kyle Berger. The others who have offered include The Ohio State University, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Illinois, West Virginia and Cincinnati.
HERE ARE THE VARSITY BASKETBALL GAME STORY, THE VARSITY HOCKEY RECAP AND THE JUNIOR VARSITY AND FRESHMAN BASKETBALL RECAPS.
Ohio City – In a selfless and team-first manner, Saint Ignatius senior forward Austin Sterpka talked about everyone but himself after the Wildcats’ varsity basketball team ran, rebounded, shot and defended its way
to an 80-38 victory over the Strongsville Mustangs in Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday night.
“It was really the other guys,” said Sterpka after he totaled career marks of 21 points and five 3-pointers, and hit on 8-of-10 shots from the field. “Fish (senior point guard Bryan Fisher) was creating looks for me and Cisco (senior guard and tri-captain Francisco Santiago) was looking for me. I remember one time he (Santiago) passed up a shot and skipped it over to me. Coach asked him why and he said: ‘Sterpka’s hot, so I thought I would get it to him.’ That’s Cisco, a good teammate.”
After a bit of a slow start, just about everything Saint Ignatius (10-3) did was good.
And helping fuel the Wildcats’ dominant fire was the 6-foot-3 Sterpka and 6-5 senior post and tri-captain Derek Sloan.
On the strength of nine first-quarter points by Sloan and back-to-back 3 pointers by Sterpka, Saint Ignatius held a 17-11 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Mustangs’ faithful had to be feeling pretty good at that point. After all, their team, which had just one victory in its previous 13 games, was giving the state’s eighth-ranked Division I program a battle through
one quarter.
Little did Strongsville’s fans know what was about to happen, or what Sterpka had already started.
Sterpka’s first two baskets from beyond the arc not only gave the Wildcats a six-point lead entering the second quarter, they were the start of 30-2 run that was only interrupted by halftime. After 6-6 junior post
Eric Black hit a 15-foot jumper on the first possession of the second half, Saint Ignatius led, 41-13.
“After the first couple, I just felt it,” said Sterpka, who is part of Coach Sean O’Toole’s main 10-man rotation. “But the other guys gave me the ball and gave me the opportunity to knock shots down.”
The second quarter was a nightmare for the Mustangs.
Sloan opened the flood gates that Sterpka had cracked by taking a perfect alley-oop pass from Santiago and slamming home two points. Derek had 14 points on the night.
The relentless offensive and defensive effort by the ‘Cats continued, as after a layup by Sterpka off Santiago’s steal and assist, another 3-pointer by Sterpka, some more strong work off the offensive glass by Sloan, Sterpka’s fourth 3-pointer, two baskets by Fisher and a 3-pointer by Santiago, Coach O’Toole’s team took a 39-13 advantage to its locker room at halftime.
Two more 3-pointers by Santiago, Sterpka’s fifth basket from beyond the arc, a hustle put back by the pride of Saint Ignatius of Antioch elementary school, junior forward Isiah Barbra, and Sterpka’s final basket of
the night off a move in which he faked a 3-pointer and made a smooth baseline drive were part of the barrage that saw the Wildcats take a 66-26 lead into the final eight minutes. Santiago closed his night with 15 points, including three treys.
Strongsville was led by forward Alex Barnes and point guard Kyle Meehan, who scored 18 and 10 points, respectively. Barnes buried four 3-pointers.
The fourth quarter was an opportunity for Coach O’Toole to clear his bench completely and give young men such as junior guard Stephen McDonnell, 6-7 junior post Jake Strippy and junior guards Ryan Napoli and Jimmy Abraham a chance to hit the scoring column and display some of the skills they have developed while helping to prepare the main 10-man rotation for every opponent.
Strippy dropped in two baskets and McDonnell and Napoli each had one of Saint Ignatius’ 10 3-pointers.
“Obviously, Austin has worked hard for four years and tonight he got a lot of opportunities,” said Coach O’Toole, who will guide his team against The PD’s 20th-ranked Walsh Jesuit Warriors (11-2) tonight at Walsh. “The beauty of it was everything he did was in rhythm of what we are trying to accomplish offensively. He didn’t force anything and his teammates did a great job of setting him up.
“That’s a big confidence builder for Austin as we go on,” Coach O’Toole continued. “We’re pretty strong at the rim, but we need some guys who can help stretch the defense.”
HERE IS THE RECAP ON THE WILDCATS’ 5-0 VICTORY OVER GILMOUR ACADEMY IN ICE HOCKEY
Posted by Eddie Dwyer with the scoring courtesy of Mr. Brian McQuinn
The Ice Cats set the tempo in a hurry on Friday night as they hit the host Lancers with four lamp lighters in the first period.
Coach Pat O’Rourke’s team, which now stands 22-4-3 on the season, continued to display its exceptional passing and team work.
Plain Dealer Player of the Week Joe Malone opened the scoring off assists from Jack Wiegandt and Miles McQuinn.
Ethan Whitney made the score 2-0 with Beck Schultz and Malone providing the helpers, and Schultz drove home goal number three with the assists going to Wiegandt and McQuinn.
Danny Brogan capped the first-period attack as he tallied off an assist from Brady Wells. The second period saw one goal from Wiegandt with an assist from Harry Smith.
As we said near the top of Friday night’s Wildcats sports report, the Ice Cats will take a 12-game winning streak into today’s (Saturday) key Red North West Division faceoff with a talented and experienced Shaker Heights team. The puck will drop in the Thornton Park Ice Arena at 4:45 p.m.
Saint Ignatius defeated Shaker Heights, 5-3, on Dec. 15 in Quicken Loans Arena.
JV BASKETBALL ‘CATS IMPROVE TO 11-2 WITH A 55-44 VICTORY OVER STRONGSVILLE’S JAYVEES.
Coach Larry Arthur’s team led, 32-14, at halftime after gifted freshman guard Deven Stover sent home a buzzer-beating
3-pointer.
On the strength of a breakaway layup by multi-skilled sophomore post Mikal Outcalt, a near length-of-the-court pass from Outcalt to strong and athletic sophomore forward Dre’Mont Jones and a three-point play by Stover off a sweet assist from Jones, the Wildcats led, 39-20, late in the third quarter.
Strongsville, trailing by 17 points entering the final seven minutes (JV quarters are 7 minutes), made a game of it
behind the play of guard Brandon Lorek and 6-4 freshman post Tyler Jamison.
The Mustangs cut the deficit to 10 points with three minutes remaining, but Saint Ignatius prevailed on a nice move
inside by Outcalt and two baskets by versatile and hard-nosed sophomore forward Dylan Nieto off assists from sophomore point guard Joe Isabella and sophomore forward Matt Roggenburk.
Lorek led all scorers with 13 points and Stover (12 points), Nieto (10 points) and Jones (8 points) paced the Wildcats.
Coach Arthur’s team will travel to Walsh Jesuit tonight (Saturday) for a 6 bells tipoff and will host the Brunswick Blue Devils on Monday. The tipoff on Monday in Sullivan Gym will be 6 p.m.
FRESHMEN USE A BALANCED ATTACK TO DEFEAT THE MUSTANGS, 55-31
Saint Ignatius' Freshman Blue Team improved to 11-1 with a convincing triumph over Strongsville's freshmen in Sullivan Gym on Friday night.
Sharing the wealth offensively, going to the glass with authority and playing some sound defense, the Wildcats stretched a 16-point lead at halftime to 47-27 entering the fourth quarter.
The big Blue, which was coming off an impressive 58-40 victory over Toledo St. John's Jesuit on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was led by post/forward Tim Kiefer's 13 points.