Coach Chris Salata '94 continues to impress on the junior varsity level. On Saturday night in Sullivan Gym, the JV Basketball Cats continued to shut down opponents in the first half, and stay undefeated at 3-0 through the first two weeks.
Tevin Jackson was efficient in the first quarter, as the freshman was the Wildcats leading scorer after the first period with 4 points after notching 4 points in Friday's game versus Erie (PA) Strong Vincent.
Jackson’s ability to find open teammates and lead the offense as a freshman has been fun to watch. He had 5 total assists in the team's second win of the season Friday.
Saint Ignatius closed the first quarter with great defense, with a great steal and layup by Patrick Russell and Lukas Bielek, forcing a turnover with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter. The play made the lead 20-7 in favor the Wildcats.
One of the highlights from the second quarter was a drive down Euclid from Tevin Jackson and acrobatic layup that he made look easy, deserving of a shoulder shrug to the Northland Varsity players. That play made it 22-7 Wildcats with just under six minutes left, giving him six points on the night.
Then, a Russell three-ball set the score at 29-10 Wildcats with 3:42 to play in the half, making it the team's largest lead at that point.
At halftime, the Wildcats held a 37-20 lead, after Jackson found a cutting Lukas Bielek that was just beautiful to watch, ending the first half. Jackson would be the Wildcats' leading scorer after the first half with 8 points.
In the second, Coach Chris Salata gave Arnoldo Valenzuela a lot of playing time, and it paid off, as he was able to drive the lane, block shots, and be powerful underneath the basket.
At the end of the third quarter, it was the “Tevin Show” again as he sank a layup buzzer-beater to make the lead 45-35 Wildcats over Northland. That made it 10 points for Jackson heading to the fourth quarter.
Northland would try to make a comeback in the closing minutes, thanks to some turnovers from the Wildcats. With 1:11 left to play, the score was 58-52 Saint Ignatius. Northland’s JasQuan Williams made a layup to make it 58-54 with just over one minute to play. Northland would intentionally foul to put the Wildcats in the bonus with 38.1 to play. Saint Ignatius missed the free throw.
On the ensuing Vikings possession, Northland missed a three and allowed Patrick Russell to seal the game with a wide open layup.
Saint Ignatius moved to 3-0 with the 60-54 win over Northland. Jackson led the way with 16 points, shooting 62% from the field.
Russell contributed 13 points, going 5-of-9 from the field, 1-for-2 from behind the arc, and perfect at the line.
In total, the Wildcats shot 42% from the field. The Wildcats now get set for their matchup with the McKinley Bulldogs down in Canton at 6:00 p.m. next Friday.