WITH THE RED NORTH DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SECURED, COACH PAT O’ROURKE ’90 AND HIS 33-0 MEN OF ICE ARE NOW FOCUSED ON THE SECOND AND THIRD OF THE THREE GOALS THEY SET IN PRESEASON – THE BARON CUP AND THE OHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP.
THE WILDCATS’ VARSITY BASKETBALL TEAM IS GEARING UP FOR THE SECOND GAME IN THE ANNUAL HOME AND-HOME SERIES WITH ST. EDWARD. THE CORNER'S PREVIEW ON SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAME FOLLOWS THE BARON CUP HOCKEY PREVIEW.
BY EDDIE DWYER
It’s that time of year in area high school hockey when the cream rises and the unexpected tries to spoil its taste.
And when it comes to the Baron Cup, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats, the most talented team in Northeast Ohio for the past three regular seasons, have had to swallow the bitter side for quite some time. The ‘Cats’ quest for “The Cup” has not runneth over.
But before we get carried away, let’s put everything in its proper place.
Yes, the tradition-rich Baron Cup is an event that presents the winner with area bragging rights, if you will. And area is the operative word.
While bringing home the Baron Cup is something any program should be proud of, it is not the ultimate goal. Not when you have won 30 or more games in three consecutive seasons, as the varsity hockey team at Saint Ignatius has done. What would be the program’s third state championship is numero uno.
The Wildcats and their head coach Pat O’Rourke have nothing but respect for the Baron Cup and its place in the history of area high school hockey. Combine that with the fact Saint Ignatius has not won a Baron Cup since 1992 and you can appreciate why the state’s top-ranked team made this week one of its prime goals.
Ask Saint Ignatius’ standout seniors Paddy Spellacy and Liam Geither if the Baron Cup is a priority, especially for a class that has helped produce a combined 94 victories and a state championship (2010) since they were sophomores, and the answers are short, but very direct.
“Yeah, definitely,” said Spellacy. “Absolutely!” added Geither.
The top-seeded ‘Cats (33-0) begin their quest for the elusive cup on Wednesday night when they take on the Hudson Explorers (15-11-1) on the ice in Brooklyn’s John M. Coyne Recreation Center. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8 p.m. The talented and hockey savvy trio of Paul Martin '10, Trent Kennedy '13 and Zach Weinreich '12 will have the call for the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network.
If successful, Saint Ignatius will return to the Coyne Recreation Center on Saturday evening for a 5:30 semifinal game against the winner of Wednesday’s other opening-round matchup between Lake Catholic and St. Edward. Sunday's championship game at "The Big Barn on Memphis" is slated for 5:30 p.m.
The Wildcats enter the Baron Cup tournament having accomplished one of their three priorities – a Red North Division championship. That was achieved last Friday night when Saint Ignatius turned away University School, 3-0, at The Pond.
With that victory, the ‘Cats joined Shaker Heights (1980-81) and Cleveland Heights (1985-86) as area teams who have posted undefeated regular seasons. The 1980-81 Shaker Heights team ran the table by going unbeaten in the postseason as well.
Saint Ignatius’ 33 victories are not only a school record, but one of the top four single-season marks in OHSAA hockey history. The Wildcats need only three more victories to surpass the OHSAA record for total wins in a season (35), which was set by Gilmour Academy in the winter of 2011.
With gifted junior forward/center Miles McQuinn suffering a season-ending injury last month, Spelllacy, Geither, multi-skilled senior forward/defender Mike Abood and senior goalie Matt Kovesdy have taken their games to another level.
Entering Wednesday night’s faceoff, Geither has a single-season school-record 51 goals and has complemented those lamp lighters with 42 assists. Liam recently suffered a leg injury that required stitches, but he is expected to be back for the Baron Cup.
Spellacy, a four-year varsity mainstay, has 32 goals and 37 assists and the hockey-savvy Abood has 26 lamp lighters and 33 helpers.
Kovesdy, who was outstanding in Friday’s victory over University School, enters the Baron Cup tournament with a save percentage of 0.930.
As for Hudson, the Explorers charted their way to the Baron Cup by defeating Red South Division rival Elyria Catholic, 10-0.
Coach Matt Bartley got a true team effort as Steve Jones and Bo Lori had two goals and one assist, Luke Mussay finished with a goal and three assists, and Jake Collins had a goal and two assists.
Also finding the back of the net were Dillon Picone, Tyler Stockwell, Michael Gaffney and Kevin Slane. Picone, Stockwell and Slane each racked up an assist.
Hudson goaltender Grayson Kotseos made 17 saves.
Following the Baron Cup, Saint Ignatius will gear up for the annual OHSAA postseason tournament. This year’s state semifinals and finals are March 10-11 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
VARSITY BASKETBALL PREVIEW
ST. EDWARD (10-6) AT SAINT IGNATIUS (12-3), SATURDAY NIGHT, SULLIVAN GYMNASIUM.
A 6 P.M. JUNIOR VARSITY GAME WILL PRECEDE THE VARSITY ENCOUNTER.
THE EAGLES ARE RANKED FIFTH IN THIS WEEK’S PLAIN DEALER TOP 25 POLL AND THE WILDCATS REMAINED IN THE EIGHTH SPOT. ST. EDWARD IS 10TH IN ASSOCIATED PRESS DIVISION I STATE POLL.
SAINT IGNATIUS’ STUDENT BROADCASTING NETWORK WILL PROVIDE AUDIO AND VIDEO COVERAGE, WITH JOHN FANTA ’13 AND PADDY WHITE ’14 DESCRIBING THE JV GAME AND LEWIS BACKUS ’12 AND GREG ZITON ’13 CALLING THE VARSITY ACTION.
BY EDDIE DWYER
As hard as it might be for some of St. Edward’s and Saint Ignatius’ faithful to accept, the Eagles and the Wildcats run a lot of similar stuff on the basketball court.
That is how much respect Coaches Eric Flannery and Sean O’Toole ’87 have for each other.
As Coach O’Toole emphasized after Monday’s practice and film session, there aren’t many secrets when it comes to this storied West Side rivalry.
“I think our goal is the same as it was the last time, to play a complete 32 minutes against this team,” Coach O’Toole said.
In the first meeting of the annual home-and-home series, which took place at St. Edward on Jan. 20th, the Wildcats trailed by 16 points after the first eight minutes, by 19 points during the second quarter and by 17 points early in the second half.
Pulling itself together at both ends of the floor and playing the games within a game, Saint Ignatius began cutting the deficit late in third quarter. With 1:42 remaining to be played, St. Edward clung to a two-point lead. The Eagles would hang on behind clutch free throws by senior guards Mike Newton and Mark Murray.
“No game is perfect, but again, just trying to play from start to finish,” said Coach O’Toole. “They throw a lot of different actions at you, offensively and defensively, and we’re excited about the challenge. It’s another great game gearing up for the tournament and we have a lot respect for that team, the talents on that team and how well-coached they are.”
Coach O’Toole said he sees some similarities between the Eagles and the well-schooled Perrysburg Yellow Jackets, who came into Sullivan Gym this past weekend and, on the strength of a 55-foot shot as time expired by gifted senior guard Scott Milne, defeated the Wildcats, 52-51.
“There is a correlation between those two teams,” said Coach O’Toole. “They both run very good man-to-man actions. You could have a scouting report of 50 pages on those teams, but what it comes down to are what are their most common actions. What are our rules on ball screens, what are our rules on handoffs, double screens, crossing screens? It’s just staying true to our discipline of how we’re going to defend this stuff.”
In the first game at St. Edward, Wildcats junior forward/post Derek Sloan had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, junior post Alec Papesch scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and junior guard Francisco Santiago contributed 11 points. The Wildcats were 18-of-27 from the foul line and the Eagles connected on 16 of their 24 shots from the charity stripe.
“It’s always a great game,” Coach Flannery said to this corner and Fr. Jack Murphy after the game at St. Edward last month. Saint Ignatius will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Eagles.