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Basketball Cats Cruise to Road Win over University School

By Brendan DeVenney, 01/07/17, 11:15PM EST

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After a convincing home win over GlenOak on Friday night, the Saint Ignatius varsity basketball team did not let up in a great tune-up game before its big showdown with St. Edward on Friday the 13th.

Heading into Hunting Valley on Saturday for a matchup with the Preppers from University School, the Wildcats had one thing in mind, and that was winning. Mission accomplished.

Saturday’s win over University could have been a trap game, but head coach Brian Becker’s game plan was drawn up perfectly to take down the Preppers. Saint Ignatius started out cold, struggling to get a good offensive rhythm going, but quickly took charge thanks to the play of Austen Yarian. 

Matt Davet had two huge three’s in the first half that allowed the Wildcats to open up the lead in the 1st quarter, and even had a huge block of University School's Charles Havre. The Wildcats went on a 12-0 run to end the first quarter. Davet had 12 after the first session. 

Yarian then got in the fun, getting three huge blocks to spoil Preppers possessions and get the ball back to the Wildcats. What was prevalent in the first half especially was Yarian's ability to throw touchdown passes to wide open teammates down on the other end of the floor. On multiple occasions, he found a wide-open Michael Spear, Colin Goodfellow or Jon Barnes for quick, easy points. That helped the ‘Cats extend the lead drastically, and at one point had a 26-3 run from the first quarter through the second quarter. 

Saint Ignatius’ defense was outstanding as always, and did not let up even when the lead was 30-plus. There was the toughness of Dom Dinunzio inside making it hard for the Preppers to get shots off, and Matt Davet was a beast inside making it hard for his opposition to get a layup to fall. 

Even Neeko Melendez showed his defensive quickness, as one point in the fourth quarter he got the ball stolen away from him, but immediately stole the ball right back, sneaking up behind a University School Prepper. 

At halftime, Saint Ignatius completed a 36-12 run to lead 48-23. At the break, the Wildcats were led by Matt Davet with 19 points, along with 13 points from Jon Barnes. They were shooting 56% from the field and rolling.

Matt Davet finished as the leading scorer with 26 points, on 11-of-15 shooting. Joshua Ozanne had 14 points, all coming in the second half. Barnes added 13 points for the ‘Cats, and Yarian also got into double digits with 10 points.

The Wildcats secured the decision in the second half, winning the contest, 90-54.

Brad Rehak was the leading scorer for University School with 15 points.

Saint Ignatius shot 60% from the field, compared the Preppers shooting 34% from the field. 

Head Coach Brian Becker ‘77: “I think overall we had a good team game. The guys off the bench did a really nice job. They came in with energy. I think our starters took care of business. Austen had a boatload of turnovers (on defense), looked up the floor very well tonight, and also rebounded very well. Matt Davet was a recipient of a lot of easy baskets. When you’re sharing the basketball good things happen, and you make open shots.”

Now Coach Becker gets to look at his opponent next Friday, St. Edward, and he feels very confident about where his team is at: “I think our sense of pay was good (the past two games). We have to run with the right type of tempo. I think we ran opportunistically, so that’s positive going into the Ed’s game. The Ed’s game is the Ed’s game. It’s emotionally packed.”

The win for the Wildcats gets them ready for a huge showdown with the Eagles from St. Edward. There will be a preview to come of the Eagles before Friday night, but to say quickly about what type of team the Eagles are this year, they are just as good as last season.

The Eagles will be coming off a weekend playing three games versus quality opponents in St. Vincent-St. Mary, Benedictine, and Brunswick. The Wildcats went 2-1 versus St. Edward last season, winning the game at home and in the District Final, so they have the opportunity to make it three straight versus the Eagles.