Coming off of a tough loss against Canton McKinley, which involved losing a 13 point lead in the fourth quarter, the Saint Ignatius junior varsity basketball team took their 3-1 record out to Warren, Ohio to take on the Warren G. Harding Raiders in what proved to be a very tightly contested matchup.
The Wildcats would have to overcome many obstacles, one of them being a start time that was pushed from 6:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., which significantly reduced the time the team had to warm up for the game.
That may have been one of the reasons the Wildcats got off to a slow start, as they had struggles shooting the ball in the first quarter, and carried a 7-point deficit after the first seven minutes of play.
Saint Ignatius improved during the second quarter, and behind the impressive post play by Kevin Davet, the Wildcats trimmed the Raiders' lead to just three points going into halftime.
During the third quarter, Davet continued his dominance in the post, adding six points to his total, two of which came from an emphatic dunk, but the Wildcats were still unable to take the lead, and entered the fourth quarter trailing by a score of 41-39.
The largest lead of the game at this point was the 7-point lead the Raiders had in the fourth quarter, but there still had been no lead changes, and the Wildcats had trailed for the entire length of the game so far.
Dante Frabotta knocked down a pair of free throws at the line to tie the game at 41 with 5:56 remaining, but the Raiders would go on a quick 8-3 run to give them a 5-point advantage with two minutes remaining.
Off of a baseline inbounds play with 1:25 remaining, Tevin Jackson knocked down a crucial three from the top of the arc to trim the Raider lead to just two points, but the Raiders would quickly answer with an easy bucket to give them a 51-47 advantage over the Wildcats with one minute remaining.
After a lengthy possession, which involved the ball being tipped out of bounds four times, Lukas Bielek connected on a three from the corner with 30 seconds left to make it a 1-point game.
Next, the Wildcats forced a 5-second violation against the Raiders, and Danny Scelza would grab an offensive board to extend a possession that ended in a pair of made free throws by Tevin Jackson. The free throws gave the Wildcats their first lead of the night with 11.1 seconds remaining.
The Raiders pushed the ball down the floor, but Jake Reali poked it away and the Raiders were unable to foul as time expired, allowing the Wildcats to come away with a 52-51 victory.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Kevin Davet, who ended the contest with 17 point. Tevin Jackson helped out with ten and Lukas Bielek finished with seven.
The next time the JV squad takes the floor will be on New Year's Eve when they take on Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School in Sullivan Gymnasium, tip-off at 1:30 p.m., with the varsity contest beginning at 3:00.