Unselfish depth and a commitment to defensive excellence tell the tale again as 11 Wildcats hit the scoring column in front of a large audience in Sullivan Gymnasium on Saturday night. Francisco Santiago (21 points), Derek Sloan (16 points) and Alec Papesch (12 points) show the way for the offense.
Coach Sean O'Toole's 'Cats now stand 5-0 heading into Wednesday's trip to the Motor City to face Detroit Jesuit. Cleveland Central Catholic suffers its first loss in seven games this season. The JV 'Cats are also 5-0 after defeating the Ironmen, 52-44. Andre Wolford's 18 points and a tough defense help key the victory for Coach Larry Arthur's jayvees.
*For an update on the Wildcats' varsity hockey team at the Purple Puck Tournament and a wrestling update, see the recap that follows the basketball story.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright December 2012
Ohio City – In many ways, Saint Ignatius’ Danny Bova and Austin Sterpka define what the 2012-13 Wildcats varsity basketball team is all about.
“One, two, three – Hard work, family” are the words that ring loud and clear from the Wildcats every time they begin and end practice.
And no Wildcat brings a tougher work ethic and a deeper appreciation for sharing the wealth than Bova and Sterpka.
“We have so much depth that defensively if you play hard for three minutes at a time, there is always someone able to come off the bench and keep that pressure up,” said Sterpka, after the senior wing’s endless hustle and eight points off the bench helped Saint Ignatius to an impressive 94-61 victory over a highly regarded Cleveland Central Catholic team on Saturday night in Sullivan Gymnasium.
“That’s what really defines us, everyone plays hard and brings that energy,” Sterpka continued.
Bova, whose passion for playing defense and being the facilitator for an offense that is long, versatile and extremely skilled earned him the honor of being voted as a rare junior captain, relishes his team-first
role.
“I totally accept it,” Danny said after he put together another solid game at both ends of the floor as Coach Sean O’Toole’s point guard. “When you have the Sloans, Santiagos, Papeschs, Blacks, Bergers, Sterpkas, guys
that can score, my job is to put pressure on the ball and let them do the rest.”
As far as previously unbeaten Central Catholic is concerned, “the rest” was too tall of an order on Saturday night.
Saint Ignatius (5-0), ranked third in The Plain Dealer’s seven-county Top 25 poll, and the seventh-ranked Ironmen (6-1) played a first quarter one would expect from two of the area’s best.
Central Catholic trailed by just two points after the first eight minutes and tied the score early in the second quarter on a basket by big game-tested senior guard/forward Greg Snyder.
But oh my, once Coach O’Toole’s Wildcats got their defense churning and their offense flowing in the second quarter, it was thanks for coming and drive home safely.
Simply put, Saint Ignatius’ awesome performance over the next seven minutes was more than the Ironmen could overcome. After being outscored, 39-8, in the second quarter, including a highlight-reel 18-0 run by the ‘Cats, Central Catholic was a dazed and frustrated team by halftime.
And that frustration came to the fore late in the second quarter when after Wildcats gifted senior post Alec Papesch was the recipient of a hard foul, words were exchanged, some shoving and pushing occurred and
four Ironmen left their bench and went on the floor.
All four of the Ironmen were hit with technical fouls and Saint Ignatius’ multi-skilled tri-captain and senior guard Francisco Santiago shot eight technical foul shots, making seven of them.
It was announced at the start of the second half that the four Central Catholic players were ejected from the game. The Wildcats had the game well in hand before the technical fouls were called.
“You just don’t ever want it to escalate to that,” said Coach O’Toole ’87. “You want to be competitive to the point where OK, there is going to be some physicality. The refs are going to make some good calls and they are going to make some calls maybe no one agrees with. But the bottom line is that it can never escalate to where you leave the bench. We were fortunate none of our guys left the bench.
“It’s human nature to want to defend your teammates,” Coach O’Toole continued. “Johnny (Central Catholic’s outstanding head coach Jonathan Harris) has done great things with that program. They have six quality wins
already.”
After Snyder’s game-tying basket, Saint Ignatius began throwing down points quicker than the snow was accumulating on Lorain Avenue.
The 18-0 onslaught started with a smooth layup by the 6-foot-7 Papesch off a money assist from Bova and didn’t end until Mr. Endless Energy, a.k.a junior forward Isiah Barbra, split two free throws.
When senior post and tri-captain Derek Sloan wasn’t scoring on a variety of ways around the basket and Santiago wasn’t hitting pull-up jumpers, 3-pointers and free throws, Sterpka and junior guard Kyle Berger were finding their way to the basket off plays generated by Bova.
Six-foot-6 junior post Eric Black was also doing damage around the rim.
“They’re still a very good team,” said Sterpka of the Ironmen. “We knew they were going to be tough, we played them in the summer and they were tough. But we came out and stuck it to them.”
After Central Catholic made it a 14-point game, the Wildcats turned up the heat again at both ends of the court and responded with two free throws by Sterpka, a layup by Eric Black off an assist from Santiago, a leaning one-hander along the baseline by Santiago, two more free throws by Santiago, two free throws by Papesch, another basket down low by Eric Black and an authoritative drive to the hoop by senior guard Bryan Fisher.
Leading, 57-24, entering the third quarter, Saint Ignatius added to its offensive array with a basket by Papesch off another assist from Bova, a 3-pointer by Berger, another Sloan from Santiago two-pointer, a smooth drive down the lane by Berger, a jumper off the glass by 6-5 David Black (Eric’s twin brother) that would have drawn a smile from Bill Walton, and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Fisher.
Santiago led all scorers with 21 points, 19 of those coming in the first half, Sloan scored 14 of his 16 points in the first 16 minutes and Barbra and Eric Black totaled nine and eight points, respectively.
Snyder led the Ironmen with 16 points and teammate Chelvonte Montgomery tossed in 15.
In case any of the Wildcats’ faithful are concerned about a letdown, let Bova reassure you.
“I think there is always room for improvement on defense,” Danny said. “Our defense is solid, but we can’t get beat off the dribble and we can’t give up the baseline. We have to help and take more charges.”
WORDS TO REMEMBER: During halftime of last night’s game, Mike Svetina ’12 was presented
with the prestigious John J. Wirtz Athlete of the Year Award from Saint Ignatius’ nationally acclaimed head football coach Chuck Kyle ’69.
Mike is now on scholarship at Illinois after being a two-time first-team All-Northeast Lakes District selection, a two-time first-team All-Ohio pick and, during his senior state-championship season of 2011, the Defensive Player of the Year in Ohio in Division I, the Northeast Lakes District Defensive Player of the Year and the seven-county Defensive Player of the Year by The Plain Dealer.
In addressing the large crowd in Sullivan Gym, Mike emphasized that although he is no longer physically walking the halls of the Jesuit Preparatory School on Cleveland’s near West Side, he will never stop
being an “Ignatius Man,” spiritually and mentally.”
IN THE HOUSE: Coaches from several area high school basketball programs were in Sullivan Gym on
Saturday night scouting both the Wildcats and the Ironmen. Keeping a keen eye on the ‘Cats were St. Vincent-St. Mary head coach Dru Joyce, whose Fighting Irish face Saint Ignatius on Sunday Jan. 6 at Baldwin-Wallace College, coaches from Cleveland Heights, whose Tigers host the Wildcats on Valentine’s Day night, St. Edward assistant coach and brother of Coach O’Toole, Donnie O’Toole (the first of the home-and-home games with the Eagles is Jan. 19 in Sullivan Gym) and current Villa Angela-St. Joseph assistant coach and former area and state-wide celebrated head coach Tedd Kwasniak. The Wildcats host VASJ on Feb. 16.
WELCOME BACK!: And last, but certainly not least, it was great to see Saint Ignatius' veteran teacher and assistant basketball coach John Cooney ’67 back in Sullivan Gym. John recently underwent reconstructive knee surgery.
SATURDAY'S HOCKEY AND WRESTLING RECAP: The Ice Cats stand 1-1 after their first day of competition at the prestigious Purple Puck Tournament in Washington D.C.
Saint Ignatius started Saturday's play at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena by dominating the Hurricanes from Huntingtown (Md.), 9-0. Sophomore forward Ethan Whitney helped show the way with two goals and three assists, as the Ice Cats outshot the Hurricanes, 43-9. Also providing lamp lighters were Beck Schultz, who had a memorable morning that included five assists; Riley Ellis; Cam Gerard; Alex McNulty; Kevin Spellacy; Jack Weigandt and Harry Smith.
On Saturday evening, the Ice Cats (10-4-3) dropped a tough 7-5 game to the Gonzaga Eagles. Standout senior captain Miles McQuinn had two goals and the other scores for the 'Cats came off the sticks of Beck Schultz, Joey Malone and Brady Wells.
The Ice Cats will now face Loyola Academy (Chicago) at high noon on Sunday. It is a big game for Saint Ignatius, which is tied for third place in the tournament team standings with 6 points. Canisius leads the way with 11 points and Loyola Academy is second with 9 points.
In wrestling, the corner congratulates the Wildcats' Tommy Zeigler, who was runner-up at 126 pounds in the talent-laden 52nd Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament.
Lake Catholic's Anthony Tutolo, in what was the only all-area championship bout, defeated Tommy, 5-0.