LED BY JORDAN BARHAM, UNIVERSITY SCHOOL IS ON A MINI WINNING STREAK AND THE BASKETBALL TRADITION AT ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT JANUARY 2012
After Wednesday’s entertaining and challenging practice in Sullivan Gymnasium, Saint Ignatius’ veteran head basketball coach Sean O’Toole ’87 emphasized that both the season and his team’s overall development are still in the infant stages.
The Wildcats, ranked 14th in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 seven-county poll, have played only four games in their 2011-12 campaign. However, in winning three of those matchups and losing by just three points to a talent-rich Warren G. Harding team on the road and down two key players, Coach O’Toole’s ‘Cats have taken several significant baby steps.
Saint Ignatius, coming off heart-pounding victories over Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep and Canton McKinley that saw the Wildcats mature overnight, will look to continue that maturation process against the Preppers of University School and a name synonymous with Ohio high school basketball – the Fighting Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The Wildcats will make the short trip to John Carroll University on Friday night to face University School and on Sunday the ‘Cats will be at their old home away from home – Baldwin-Wallace College’s Ursprung Gymnasium – to face Coach Dru Joyce II's storied Irish. During the 1980s and 1990s, Saint Ignatius played numerous sectional and district games on the Ursprung floor.
Friday night’s action at John Carroll will start with a junior varsity game at 6 p.m., but Sunday’s game at B-W is a varsity-only event at 3:30 p.m. The Wildcats' Student Broadcasting Network will have live audio and video coverage from John Carroll and live audio from Baldwin-Wallace. Jumpin' John Fanta '13 and Paddy White '14 will evaluate Friday's junior-varsity action and the SIBN's version of Jerry West and "Pistol Pete" Maravich, a.k.a. Lewis Backus '12 and Greg Ziton '13, will have the call on both of the weekend's varsity games.
“They are winning games and they have guys who are playing their roles,” said Coach O’Toole of a University School team that has won four in a row and five of its last six games. Coach Terry Lipford’s Preppers (5-3) feature one of the state’s best in senior guard/wing Jordan Barham, a Davidson recruit.
“He’s probably as good as anyone we’ve played when it comes to getting to the rim,” Coach O’Toole said of Barham. “We just have to come out and take care of business our way, do what we do, score how we score and I think things will work themselves out.”
It’s no secret how Saint Ignatius has been scoring, as the Wildcats are led by 6-foot-4 junior forward/post Derek Sloan and his 15.8 points a game, the 13.0 average of 6-6 junior post Alec Papesch and the 9.5 points per game and 11 3-pointers by senior guard Brian Joseph.
Papesch and Sloan are also making their presence felt on defense and off the glass.
“Pappy,” as Papesch is referred to by his teammates, is pulling down 8.3 rebounds a game and has taken six charges. Sloan is averaging 7.8 rebounds and has nine blocks, including highlight-reel rejections against Warren Harding and Canton McKinley.
Helping get the ‘Cats’ inside-out attack flowing are junior guards Francisco Santiago and Bryan Fisher, who have 16 and 11 assists, respectively.
“No matter who we play, we’re going to try to attack inside,” Coach O’Toole said. “But we’ll just take what they (the Preppers) give us. Our first goal is to beat them down the floor and score. That would be ideal for us. But obviously we want to attack the rim and we’ll take whatever else we get.
“We have pretty good balance and I think we’re getting better,” Coach O’Toole continued. “And this will be another good measurement.”
Not to take anything away from Barham and Co., but this weekend’s measurement grows significantly on Sunday.
St. Vincent-St. Mary, which has won six state basketball championships, a mark that is second only to Middletown’s seven, currently carries a deceiving 4-3 record and is ranked 10th in Northeast Ohio by The Plain Dealer. SVSM will host Pennsylvania’s Imani Christian Academy on Friday.
Coach Joyce, now in his 11th season as the head man of the Fighting Irish, has a career record of 194-60. Last season’s Division II state champion, SVSM’s three setbacks this winter have come to fourth-ranked Garfield Heights, fifth-ranked St. Edward and ninth-ranked Benedictine.
Like Saint Ignatius’ standout senior guard Jack Tupa, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s gifted 6-7, 215-pound senior forward/post Lorenzo Cugini has been recovering from a foot injury. Tupa is practicing this week and could, and we emphasize could, see some limited action this weekend. Coach Joyce’s deep front court features, among others, 6-8 sophomore Victor Dorsey.
Coach O’Toole singled out the player who has been holding things together for the Irish – 6-3 senior guard D.J. Blanks. A lefty, Blanks scored a career-high 26 points in the three-point loss at St. Edward.
“They have great size and they are going to come after us (defensively), which is good,” Coach O’Toole said of the Irish. “What impresses me is that most of their outlets are vertical, there are very few horizontal outlets. They really get the ball out and get down the floor quickly.
“But we’ll compete, try to figure out a way to win and evaluate after.”
****CONGRATULATIONS TO WILDCATS OUTSTANDING 120-POUND SENIOR WRESTLER GEORGE DICAMILLO, WHO WILL BE HONORED BY THE PLAIN DEALER THIS WEEK AS A PLAYER OF THE WEEK.
IN CASE YOU MISSED THE CORNER'S POSTS LAST WEEKEND, GEORGE JOINED A SELECT GROUP BY WINNING HIS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE TRADITION-RICH BRECKSVILLE HOLIDAY INVITATIONAL. HE EXTENDED HIS WINNING STREAK TO 53 MATCHES, A MARK THAT INCLUDES HIS 35-0 AND 112-POUND STATE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON OF 2010-11.
AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS TO GEORGE AND HIS FAMILY.