Rivalries are rivalries. Most of the time players and coaches approach rivalry games as just any other game and don’t want to overthink them, because then your mental focus gets out of whack.
However, Friday night in a jam-packed Sullivan Gymnasium in Ohio City, it was not just any other game between two of the greatest rivals in high school sports.
Saint Ignatius was looking to take down Eric Flannery’s St. Edward Eagles for a third straight time on the hardwood dating back to last season when the Wildcats, coached by Brian Becker ‘77, defeated the Eagles both at home and at the Wolstein Center in the District Final. And it would be an instant classic in order to do so.
After one of the sickest pregame introductions to a high school basketball game ever, the Eagles started out hot and it did not look good for the Wildcats. St. Edward started out with a 7-0 run, but then the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run that featured Austen Yarian backing down and giving Saint Ignatius their first lead of the game at 10-9 with 4:10 left to go in the first quarter.
Colin Goodfellow started out his game red-hot from behind the arc with a few three’s, and Saint Ignatius slowly started to extend its lead. It was 18-16 Wildcats with 2:00 left in the first.
But the freshmen play of St. Edward was relevant early on – the Eagles have rising superstars in the state of Ohio. Montorie Foster, who finished with an impressive 9 points, hit a huge three to keep the Eagles in the lead at the end of the first quarter to make it 23-20 Wildcats after one period.
Foster kept on churning in the second quarter, giving St. Edward their first lead since the early portions of the first quarter with a right handed layup, but Hillsdale College recruit Austen Yarian gave the Wildcats the lead right back with an and-1 opportunity.
The Wildcats were firing from three-point range very well, possibly even better than the Eagles, as Michael Spear hit a huge three making it 30-26 with 5:57 left to go in the half, and then after a Jon Barnes steal, he hit a wide open Matt Davet for a trey, making it 37-28 Wildcats, the Wildcats' largest lead of the game at that point.
St. Edward didn’t back down, though, and got back in it with some tough defense. Emmett Chambers blocked Luke Wiskes after hitting a huge three, and then freshman Grant Huffman blocked Neeko Melendez on a layup with 40 seconds left in the first half. At halftime, Saint Ignatius had a slim lead at 39-37.
At halftime, Matt Davet was leading the way for Saint Ignatius with 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting. The Wildcats were shooting 5-of-10 from behind the arc at the half, which was huge at that point in the game.
In the second half, things really started to take form in the ballgame and you could tell that this was going to come down to the wire. It was just a one point game at the end of the third quarter with the Wildcats leading 56-55. Neither team was having luck trying to pull away and take control of the game. But, in the end, it was the fourth quarter that would allow the outcome of the game.
Demetrius Terry of St. Edward hit a huge three to finally tie the ballgame for the Eagles at 60-60 with 6:20 remaining, and then on the ensuing possession, the big man for St. Edward, Kelvin Calhoun drew an and-1 opportunity, tying it once again for the Eagles at 62-62.
Then Matt Davet hit one of his four three-pointers to give the Wildcats the lead back with 4:45 to play. Yet, St. Edward’s leading three-point shooter Jack Sullivan hit a trey ball to even things up once again at 67-67 and 3:11 left to play. You could just feel the anticipation and nervousness after every game-tying shot went in.
However, the Eagles then went on a run that frustrated the Wildcats. They went on a 7-0 run to take a 71-67 lead with 2:20 to play in the ballgame, that featured the athleticism and dunking ability of Demetrius Terry.
But have no fear, Matt Davet is here! Davet drove for an easy layup making it 73-69 Eagles. Then after two free throws by St. Edward, Davet drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead to 75-72 with 49.1 left!
But the biggest shot of his career came with 4 seconds left and the clocking winding down with the score at 78-75 St. Edward. After a pass from Michael Spear, Davet got the ball at the top of the key, was double teamed, and still drilled a three-pointer off the glass to send the game to overtime at 78-78.
After that three by Davet, the Wildcats ran off 12 straight points in the overtime and cruised to a 90-80 win over St. Edward. The Eagles seemed out of it in the overtime period and could not get anything going offensively.
Head Coach Brian Becker ‘77: “Typical run of the mill Ed’s-Ignatius game. Last year it was a double overtime, this year it went to overtime. Both teams played really, really hard. They made a bank shot to open the game, we made a bank to close the game.
“Give St. Ed’s some credit, they play really, really hard, and our kids were a little bit extended. We turned it over once or twice that allowed them to make some big shots, but our guys responded really well."
On the game-tying shot by Davet: “It was kind of how we drew it up. Went off the glass, I was hoping for swish, but I was looking for either Michael Spear on a runner up the floor or get Matt Davet in the middle of the floor. Redzone three ball, I watch him knock it down day in and day out in practice. He did the job.”
Davet on his game-tying shot: “Honestly I thought Mike had a good look at it even though it was long. I thought it looked good, but I didn’t think it would go in.”
Well, it did go in and allowed Sullivan Gymnasium to erupt in a roar of excitement.
The Wildcats finished shooting an impressive 56% from the field, 47% from behind the arc, and outscored St. Edward 12-2 in the overtime period. They were led by the hero of the game, Matt Davet, with 36 points, a season-high, as he shot 13-of-18 and 4-for-7 from three-point range. Austen Yarian contributed 16 points, and Michael Spear, who is having a breakout season, contributed with 15 points and shot 60% from behind the arc.
St. Edward ended up being led by Demetrius Terry and Kelvin Calhoun, who both had 16 points. Tommy Schmock finished with 12 and Jack Sullivan finished with 10. The Eagles shot only 34% from three-point range, which is very uncharacteristic of Eric Flannery’s squad.
The Wildcats now gear up for a showdown with the Vikings from North Canton Hoover, Saturday night down in North Canton in the primetime matchup of the Mercy Medical Center Classic.
Tipoff is scheduled for around 7:45 from Hoover High School.