Contrasting styles – The Wildcats’ varsity basketball team is preparing to face Midpark and highly ranked Cleveland Central Catholic this weekend.
Both teams will be visiting Sullivan Gymnasium, with the respective junior varsity games to get underway at 6 and the varsity tipoffs slated for 7:30. Led by its veteran broadcaster, senior John Fanta, the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network will provide live coverage on both games. Listeners are in for a special treat this weekend as former SIBN and SSID President Mike Watts ’11, who is currently advancing his exceptional broadcasting skills at Fordham University, will be joining John as special
color commentator.
Juniors Paddy White and Cole Larson, along with a cast of thousands, will have the call on the junior varsity games and devoted senior basketball manager Patrick Gibbons ’13 will provide his astute halftime
analysis.
The corner’s “Where the ‘Cats Play” follows the basketball preview.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright December 2012
Ohio City – As Saint Ignatius head basketball coach Sean O’Toole ’87 prepares his 3-0 Wildcats for their first back-to-back games of the 2012-13 season, he is, in his own words, gearing up for two contrasting styles – the Midpark Meteors on Friday night and the area’s seventh-ranked Cleveland Central Catholic Ironmen on Saturday night.
“The highlight of this weekend is that we are playing two very different types of teams,” Coach O’Toole said, moments after he put his team through a Wednesday morning practice. “In Midpark, we are facing a team that can vary its zones (defensively) from a 1-3-1 to a 2-3, use full-court to
quarter-court pressure, and some man. They execute extremely well.
“Saturday with Central Catholic, it’s a team that really wants to push it – push hard in transition and go hard to the rim off the bounce,” said Coach O'Toole.
Midpark, under the direction of 14-year head coach Duke Barther, has won four of its first six games this season. The Meteors finished 13-10 last winter after advancing to the district semifinals.
A coach who has always been able to get the most out of his teams, Coach Barther is building around 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Nolan Gerrity, 5-9 junior guard Michael Schuller, 5-6 junior guard Dylan Nguyen, 5-10 senior guard Christian Calton and 6-3 senior forward Doug Verbofsky.
Schuller averaged seven points and three assists last season, Calton averaged 10 points and four assists and Gerrity averaged six points and five rebounds.
Some of the other mianstays for the Meteors are 6-4 senior guard Mark Lombardo, 6-6 sophomore
forward David Dunnigan, 5-8 guard Kevin Prok, 6-5 forward Jacob Fuentes, 6-5 forward Austin Mraz and 6-2 guard Aaron Owens.
In a recent victory over Lincoln-West, Verbofsky tossed in 18 points and Calton and Schuller scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Meteors, trailing 21-8 after the first quarter, went on to defeat Olmsted Falls, 74-60, in Southwestern Conference play this month. Calton showed the way with 21 points, Nguyen was right behind with 20 and Gerrity finished with 11 points.
Midpark’s losses came in the SWC to Brecksville-Broadview Heights and neighboring rival Berea. The storied Midpark-Berea rivalry will come to an end after the spring sports season as the two schools are merging next school year.
“They can score in a variety of ways,” said Coach O’Toole of Coach Barther’s Meteors. “Their guards are active and skilled, they have wings that can shoot a high percentage from the perimeter and they have two good young bigs (post players). The first thing that comes to mind when I see them is that they are extremely disciplined. They run very good actions for their scorers, they’re very deliberate and patient, and they’ll take what you give them.
“Midpark can play a game in the 80s and they can also play a game in the 30s,” Coach O’Toole continued.
Although Coach O’Toole emphasized that the Wildcats’ are 100 percent focused on Midpark right now, many of Saint Ignatius’ faithful are pointing to Saturday night’s match up with the Ironmen from Cleveland Central Catholic. Saturday’s game will match the third - (Saint Ignatius) and seventh-ranked teams in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 seven-county poll.
Like the Wildcats, Coach Jonathan Harris’ Ironmen (5-0) can’t get caught looking ahead. On Friday night, Central Catholic travels to Lake Catholic for a key North Coast League game.
“They have great athleticism,” said Coach O’Toole of the Ironmen, who were the 2009 Division III state champions and the Division III state runners-up in 2011. “Jon (Coach Harris) has them playing fast and playing hard. I think one of our strengths is our bench and they have incredible depth themselves.”
Highlighting Central Catholic’s 5-0 start are victories over The PD’s sixth-ranked St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish and 20th-ranked Benedictine Bengals.
Veteran guard Greg Snyder, who wants and makes the tough shots, scored 20 points and hit the game-winning, last-second basket in the 69-68 victory over St. Vincent-St. Mary and the versatile duo of Peter Washington and Chelvonte Montgomery combined for 44 points in the 77-68 triumph over Benedictine.
Greg Alexander, Antwon Lillard, Tervell Beck and Brandon Peters are the other names to remember in the red, white and blue. The 6-4 Beck and 5-10 Peters are rated among the premier freshmen in Northeast Ohio by The PD.
“I love the Central Catholic game because they’re like a brother school of ours, being a near downtown Cleveland Catholic school,” said Coach O’Toole, who will be the first to tell you that his team was fortunate to walk out of the unique setting of the St. Stan’s Social Center with a 46-44 victory over the Ironmen last season. “We have a lot of respect for Central Catholic, their administration and their kids.”
CATS STATS: After an impressive 68-40 victory at Canton McKinley that saw the Wildcats shoot 55 percent from the field, including 7-of-7 on 3-pointers, and have 12 players in the scoring column, here are some of the team’s statistical leaders heading into this weekend’s action: Senior guard Francisco Santiago, averaging 16.3 points and 4.7 assists; junior post Eric Black, averaging 12 points and 6.7 rebounds; senior post Alec Papesch, averaging 8 points, 5.7 rebounds, has taken 5 charges and has 4 steals; senior post/forward Derek Sloan, averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds; junior guard Kyle Berger, averaging 7.3 points and has 8 steals; junior point guard Danny Bova, averaging 4 assists and has 5 steals; senior wing Austin Sterpka with 4 steals and sophomore forward Jaylin McDonald with 4 blocks.
WHERE THE ‘CATS PLAY
Coach Mark Sullivan‘s varsity wrestling team will be at the tradition-rich Brecksville
Invitational Holiday Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
The oldest holiday wrestling tournament in the nation, this year’s 52nd Brecksville Invitational will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and continue on Saturday at 10 a.m. Saturday’s semifinals are scheduled for 1 p.m., and the finals are slated for 6:30.
A talent-laden cast from 46 schools will be competing, including eight state champions and 41 state qualifiers.
Last year, Saint Ignatius’ two-time undefeated state champion George DiCamillo ’12, who is now excelling as a freshman for the Virginia Cavaliers, was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Brecksville Invitational.
Coach Pat O’Rourke’s varsity hockey team will be looking to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to Toledo St. John’s Jesuit in the championship game of the Padua Christmas Tournament when it travels to Washington D.C. for the prestigious Purple Puck Tournament at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena. The
tournament will run from Dec. 28th through the 30th. Saint Ignatius enters the Purple Puck ranked No. 1 in the coaches' state poll.
The Ice Cats’ 2-0 loss to the St. John’s Titans and their outstanding goalie Mike Barrett marked the first time the program was shutout since Dec. 28, 2009, when Sylvania Northview skated to a 0-0 tie with the ‘Cats during the Saint Ignatius Christmas Tournament at the John M. Coyne Recreation Center in
Brooklyn – a string of 110 games.
Saint Ignatius would go on to defeat Northview in the state championship game that season, 4-1, and bring home the program’s second Ohio crown.
The Ice Cats (9-3-3), who are now 2-1 against St. John’s this season, got the upper hand on Barrett by defeating the Titans, 3-2, in the opening game of the Padua tournament. But two days later, Barrett, a junior, took his game to another level to the tune of 26 saves.
Rounding out Saint Ignatius’ varsity programs that will be in action this weekend is Coach Jeff Ridler’s record-setting swimming team. The Wildcats will be competing in Saturday’s Wally Relays at Cleveland State University. The first events are scheduled for 5:45 p.m. On Jan. 4, Saint Ignatius swims against St. Edward in Lakewood.