It’s the Wildcats and the Eagles on Saturday night and then it’s off to Kettering, Ohio, where Saint Ignatius will face Our Savior New American School (Centereach, NY) on Sunday afternoon in the annual Good Samaritan Hospital Flyn’ To The Hoop Invitational at Trent Arena. The tipoff is 1:15 p.m.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright January 2013
Ohio City – The Wildcats and the Eagles will match hoops skills in front of another sold-out gate at Sullivan Gymnasium on Saturday night.
Saint Ignatius (8-2) enters the game ranked seventh in the Associated Press Division I State Poll and fourth in The Plain Dealer’s seven-county Top 25 poll.
St. Edward (9-3) is The Plain Dealer’s third-ranked team and the Eagles are 14th in the big-school state poll.
The respective junior varsity teams will play at 6 p.m., and the highly anticipated varsity match up will tip off at 7:30.
Seniors John Fanta and Greg Ziton will bring you the live audio and video varsity broadcast over the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network and getting you started with the junior varsity game will be juniors Paddy White and Cole Larson. John and Greg will also broadcast Sunday’s game from Trent Arena.
Here is a look at the first of what is an annual two-game home-and-home series with St. Edward (the second game is Feb. 8 at the Eagles’ Nest). We will also give you a little preview on Our Savior New American.
Saint Ignatius vs. St. Edward
Saint Ignatius head basketball coach Sean O’Toole ’87 is very direct in his respectful analysis of the 2012-13 St. Edward Eagles.
After giving his Wildcats a day off to prepare for their semester exams, Coach O’Toole spoke of what the real
benefit is of playing Coach Eric Flannery’s Eagles.
“It makes us a better team,” he said. In expanding on that, Coach O’Toole referred to the different looks St. Edward utilizes on defense and how those looks have to be attacked aggressively and intelligently.
Coach O’Toole wants his team to play with a combination of fearless passion and basketball savvy on Saturday night.
There are, as Coach O’Toole emphasized, no secrets between the Wildcats and the Eagles.
“They know how we play and we know what they like to do,” Coach O’Toole said of an opponent that includes his
younger brother, Donnie, on its staff.
After their impressive performances at Lorain last weekend, Saint Ignatius senior post and tri-captain Derek Sloan and senior guard and tri-captain Francisco Santiago said the
Wildcats must share the wealth on Saturday night and bring that same take-care-of-the-basketball and team-defense mentality that keyed their eight victories this season.
Playing as a family is the way Santiago describes it.
There is no question that every Wildcat will have to be on the same page as Saint Ignatius is seeking its first victory in the series since the winter of 2008-09.
That figure can be quite deceiving, however, as the ‘Cats and the Eagles have played some down-to-the-wire thrillers over the past three seasons, including two games last year that resulted in three- and four-point victories by St. Edward.
Coach Flannery’s team is led this season by 6-foot-6 sophomore Kipper Nichols; 6-4 junior guard Tony Vuyancih; 6-5 junior forward/post Marsalis Hamilton; 6-6 senior guard Tim Stainbrook; 6-3 junior forward Will Meyer; 5-10 junior guard Patrick Riley and 6-1 senior point guard Royal Eddie. Six-foot-6 sophomore post/forward Mike Ryan has provided
some quality moments recently.
As has been the case all season, Coach O’Toole will employ an 11-man rotation that starts with the 6-5 Sloan; the 6-2 Santiago; 6-7 senior post Alec Papesch; 6-3 junior guard Kyle Berger; 6-2 junior point guard and tri-captain Danny Bova; 6-6 junior post Eric Black and his twin brother – 6-5 junior post/forward David Black; 6-2 senior point
guard Bryan Fisher; 6-3 senior wing Austin Sterpka; 6-5 sophomore forward Jaylin McDonald and 6-3 junior forward Isiah Barbra.
The Wildcats’ setbacks came to Columbus Northland, the state’s top-ranked Division I team, at Sullivan Gymnasium and to six-time state champion St. Vincent-St. Mary at
Baldwin-Wallace University’s Ursprung Gymnasium.
St. Edward’s three losses were to St. John’s Jesuit at the Eagles’ Nest, at St. Vincent-St. Mary and to Summit Country Day at Ursprung Gymnasium.
Here is a look at Sunday’s opponent, Our Savior New American School.
Our Savior New American School (OSNAS) is a private Christian School that offers a strong academic approach to education in grades Pre K- 12. Some of the distinctive features of the school are: the teaching with an evangelical Christian Perspective, a strong Phonics program for reading, small classes, and an orderly peaceful environment that is rooted in love of Our Savior Jesus Christ.
****Ranked among the top teams in the state of New York, OSNAS has an international flavor to its team, as some of its mainstays have ties to other nations or countries.
One of OSNAS's key players is 6-9, 210-pound sophomore Cheick Diallo. Diallo, who is from Mali, is described by scouts as a very active big man who runs the floor extremely well, finishes around the rim and is also a capable shot blocker.
OSNAS is currently 7-4 after losing to Newark, New Jersey power St. Benedict’s Prep, 68-66.