An overflow crowd in the Eagles Nest witnesses another will-tester between the storied West Side rivals. Saint Ignatius losses for just the second time in nine games and St. Edward improves to 7-4.
****Paddy Spellacy's hat trick and Liam Geither's two goals show the way against the Mustangs at IceLand USA on Friday night. Geither's two goals give him 48 for the season, which ties the Wildcats' single-season record set by gifted junior captain Miles McQuinn last year. Miles recently suffered a season-ending injury (see the corner's story on Miles from earlier in the week below). Just a reminder that Saturday's game against Lake Catholic is at Quicken Loans Arena. If you can negotiate with Mother Nature, the puck will drop at high noon.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT JANUARY 2012
Standing outside the visitor’s locker room at St. Edward late Friday night, Saint Ignatius’ head basketball coach Sean O’Toole ’87 made it clear that you cannot spot a team like the Eagles 19 points and expect to win the game.
That said, Coach O’Toole emphasized to this corner that he is beyond proud of his players.
The Wildcats, who were down 16 points after the first eight minutes and trailed, 30-11, in the second quarter, were right there with 1 minute and 42 seconds remaining to be played before St. Edward rode a timely basket by senior post Michael Mason and some clutch free-throw shooting by senior guards Mike Newton and Mark Murray to a 65-61 victory.
“You can’t get it back at once,” Coach O’Toole said. “You’re on the road, it’s a packed house and the momentum is everywhere but with you. It’s about seeing the big picture and the games within the game – let’s get it to 15, let’s get it seven. Before you know it, it’s a two-point game!”
St. Edward (7-4), ranked fifth in this week’s Plain Dealer seven-county Top 25 poll, appeared to be off to the races after Murray buried a 3-pointer that gave the Eagles their 19-point lead. Murray’s 15 points complemented a game-high 22-point effort by fellow senior guard Myles Hamilton.
Tenth-ranked Saint Ignatius (7-2), as it did in most of its first eight games, stared adversity in the face and began chipping away in front of a triple-row, standing-room crowd on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, a loud, cozy and enthusiastic audience of 2,000-plus that made hearing yourself think a chore.
The Wildcats, behind a 3-pointer and some nice work at the foul line by gifted junior forward Derek Sloan, closed to 12 points late in the first half and trailed by 10 points at halftime after senior guard Brian Joseph buried a 3-pointer.
Saint Ignatius had another major hill to climb after intermission, as the Eagles, fueled by a baby hook from Mason and another 3-pointer by Murray, pushed their lead to 17 points early in the third quarter.
But once again, the Wildcats found their second, or maybe it was their third and fourth, roar.
A put-back by senior guard/forward Eric Williams off a quick-reaction move got Saint Ignatius’ motor running again and, following a 3-pointer by silky smooth junior guard Francisco Santiago, an impressive move to the basket by Sloan and a heads-up steal of the ensuing in-bounds pass by Santiago that “Cisco” converted into a three-point play, the Wildcats trailed, 49-44, with 1:58 to go in the third quarter.
Hamilton, who was on fire all night, slowed the ‘Cats’ momentum with a rainbow 3-pointer and, after a free throw by Saint Ignatius’ 6-5 sophomore forward David Black and two free throws by Coach O’Toole’s standout senior point guard Jack Tupa, St. Edward clung to a 52-47 lead entering the final eight minutes.
“I like our team, we’re getting better,” said Coach O’Toole. “That’s hard to do (to keep overcoming double-digit deficits), and by no means was this a moral victory. But you have to look at it as a whole. It is what it is, game nine.
“It (the rallies) was guys playing their roles,” O’Toole continued. “Tups (Jack Tupa), he just wills us and gets the ball to the right guys. And what can you say about Derek (Sloan)? He’s hitting his free throws, rebounding and blocking shots. “Pappy” (talented 6-6 junior post Alec Papesch) was battling all night and “Cisco” (Santiago), when we can get him going, he can score them in bunches.
“But when we look at the film, it was our shot selection in the early going that we have to correct.”
The final 5:54 was worth every penny of the admission, as Saint Ignatius, trailing by seven points, closed to within three points on two free throws each by Santiago and Tupa.
St. Edward, fueled by the free-throwing shooting of Murray and Hamilton, pushed its lead right back to seven points with 3:36 remaining.
At that point, Papesch put his team on his back and led a 6-1 run with three impressive baskets down low, the third one coming off a picture-perfect assist by Tupa and cutting the deficit to 59-57 with 1:42 left.
Coach Eric Flannery’s Eagles answered with a layup by Mason off an alert assist by Hamilton and led, 63-57, after Newton hit two free throws with 42.4 clicks on the clock.
No one was about to head for the exits my friends, as the closing flurry saw Papesch tip in a shot that cut the deficit to four points with 20.4 seconds remaining and Newton and Murray sandwich clutch free throws around a Tupa driving one-hander. The charity stripe sealer came from Murray with 5.5 seconds to go.
Mason was St. Edward’s third player to finish in double figures with 11 points. Sloan added a team-leading 15 points to his seven rebounds and three blocks, Papesch totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Santiago finished with 11 points.
Saint Ignatius was 19-of-27 from the foul line, with Sloan going 8-for-8, and the Eagles were 16-of-24 from the charity stripe.
The Wildcats will now gear up for a four-game-in-six-nights stretch that starts with a trip to Cleveland Central Catholic on Tuesday and ends with a varsity-only matchup against the highly touted Pickerington Central High School Tigers on Sunday at Walsh University. The tip off on Sunday is 7 p.m. Pickerington Central's game against Lancaster on Friday night was postponed because of threatening weather conditions, so the Tigers currently stand 12-0 and are ranked third in the Associated Press big-school state poll. Yes, it's the same school our 2011 state football champs defeated in the title game on Dec. 3.