THE TARBLOODERS MAKE THE SHORT TRIP TO SULLIVAN GYM ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND, AFTER THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF WEATHER POSTPONEMENTS, PERRYSBURG AND SAINT IGNATIUS WILL MEET ON THE SULLIVAN FLOOR SATURDAY NIGHT. "SH," DON’T TELL MOTHER NATURE.
BY EDDIE DWYER
When discussing Friday night’s game against the Glenville Tarblooders, Saint Ignatius head basketball coach Sean O’Toole ‘87 referred to some aspects of the rivalry that this corner found refreshing.
Yes, Coach O’Toole talked about how big, physical and athletic the Tarblooders are.
However, just as Coach Chuck Kyle ‘69 and Coach Ted Ginn Sr. have established on the gridiron, Coach O’Toole and Tarblooders head basketball coach Michael Holt will bring a mutual respect to Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday. The varsity game will be preceded by a 6 p.m. junior varsity encounter.
“We play them all summer, we have a good relationship with the school and Michael Holt is one of my dear friends,” said Coach O’Toole.
Now don’t think for a moment that the Wildcats and the Tarblooders are going to go through the motions of a pick-up game. It’s a healthy Cleveland rivalry, but still a rivalry my friends.
And there is nothing Glenville would enjoy more than to head back to E. 113th and St. Clair late Friday night knowing they had dampened the emotional high St. Ignatius is currently riding.
Coach O’Toole’s Wildcats (11-2), ranked eighth in The Plain Dealer’s seven-county Top 25 poll and tied for 11th with Mason in this week’s Associated Press Division I state poll, won four games in six nights last week, including a three-game weekend sweep that was capped by a memorable 66-65 overtime victory over Pickerington High School Central (14-1) in the Dunk 4 Diabetes Shootout at Walsh University. Pickerington Central entered Sunday’s game undefeated and ranked second in Ohio in Division I, and the Tigers remain in that spot this week.
“It’s a game (versus Glenville) that prepares us for the tournament,” Coach O’Toole said, just moments before he was leaving to scout the Tarblooders (9-4) in a SAL game at Rhodes on Tuesday. “We like to play these guys in February.”
Outscoring Rhodes, 45-30, over the second and third quarters combined, and getting a game-high 24 points from guard Craig Eubanks, Glenville defeated the Rams, 77-62.
As for Perrysburg, which hails from the Northern Lakes League, the Yellow Jackets are a well- schooled team that runs a controlled tempo.
Dave Boyce, now in his 12th season as the head basketball coach at the school from Wood County in Northwest Ohio, has a career record of 195-59. After finishing 15-8 last season, including a 10-4 mark in the NLL, the Yellow Jackets entered this week with a record of 8-5. Coach Boyce’s team had won four of its last six games and stood 5-2 at home and 3-3 on the road.
In what was an impressive 59-37 league victory over the visiting Bowling Green Bobcats last weekend, 6-foot-3 junior Shane Edwards tossed in 23 points for Perrysburg, 5-10 senior guard Scott Milne had 13 points and 6-2 senior forward Jake Pfleghaar contributed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists. The Yellow Jackets avenged an early season 54-46 setback to the Bobcats.
Pfleghaar and Milne were varsity mainstays last season, with Pfleghaar earning District 7 honorable mention and second-team All-NLL honors.
In what is a true feel-good story, Perrysburg 6-2 junior guard/forward Bryant Byrd, in order to continue to play the game he loves, has overcome a hearing disability. Another Yellow Jacket with strength and sting is 6-5 senior Dan Johnston.
Among Perrysburg's prominent graduates are Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, writer and historian Douglas Brinkley and former NFL head coach Jerry Glanville.
The Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network will provide live audio and video coverage of this weekend's games. John Fanta '13 and Paddy White '14 will call the progress of the 11-2 JV 'Cats and taking over the headsets for the varsity game will be Lewis Backus '12 and Greg Ziton '13.
CAT STAT: Saint Ignatius’ 1-2 junior punch of 6-6 post Alec Papesch and 6-5 post/forward Derek Sloan continue to lead the Wildcats with 13.3 and 12.5 points per game, respectively. Papesch is averaging 7.8 rebounds, has six blocks, including two crucial rejections against Pickerington Central, and has taken 10 charges. Sloan is grabbing 8.8 rebounds a game and has totaled 22 blocks and 11 steals.
Senior point guard Jack Tupa, after missing the first four games of the season because of a foot injury, has stormed back to average 8.9 points, 6.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds, and has totaled 12 steals. After averaging 12 points and seven assists in last week’s four victories, Jack will be honored as a Plain Dealer Player of the Week.
Junior guard Francisco Santiago is averaging 8.2 points, three rebounds and 2.9 assists, and has a solid 10 steals and seven blocks, and senior guard Brian Joseph has buried 21 3-pointers and has made nine steals.
AND THE ANSWER IS: For Mickey, our big Wildcats supporter and avid reader from Miami (he is not a Heat fan), there is no tournament draw for the annual city-wide hockey Baron Cup, as there is in other sports. It is based on how teams finish. The top five in the Red North Division and top three in the Red South Division of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League qualify.
Our Ice ‘Cats, who are currently a remarkable 32-0, should have the #1 seed just about locked up and will face the #8 seed, which, said Wildcats head coach Pat O’Rourke ’90, will be Hudson. The Baron Cup will be played Feb. 8-12 and the ‘Cats will be going after that elusive Cup at the “Big Barn on Memphis,” a.k.a. the John M. Coyne Recreation Center in Brooklyn. Saint Ignatius last won a Baron Cup in 1992.
EXCITING, BUT STILL A WAYS OFF: Although Saint Ignatius’ strong and gifted sophomore offensive tackle Jim Byrne is excited and humbled that Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has already let it be known that he wants Jim to be a Buckeye, keep in mind that Jim, unless NCAA rules change between now and then, can’t sign a national letter of intent until February 2014.
Coach Kyle said Jim is going to use Coach Meyer’s early interest as a motivational tool to keep working – in the classroom, on the field and in the weight room. At 6-4, 260-plus pounds, Jim was an anchor for the ‘Cats’ undefeated junior varsity squad and became a starter on Saint Ignatius' state-championship team No. 11 later in the season. The corner wishes all of the best to a great kid and is looking forward to covering and reporting on Jim the next two seasons.
ACROSS THE STREET: The corner will be at the Breen Center on Wednesday to watch the Wildcats sign their national letters of intent at 3 p.m. Although we have already reported on the commitments in football, baseball, soccer, wrestling and golf, it is always enjoyable to see the reactions on signing day and to interview the young men once the whole recruiting process is over.
We will post a wrapup and reaction story on Wednesday night.