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In Tale of Two Halves, Wildcats Get 7th straight win

By Brendan DeVenney, 02/18/17, 12:15AM EST

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It was another huge victory for the Wildcats on Friday night inside Sullivan Gymnasium, 82-55, but the hosts had to earn it in the second half after a tough, defensive first half against the Tigers of Massillon Washington.

Colin Goodfellow got things started early in the opening of the game, helping the Wildcats to jump out to an 8-2 lead with two three-pointers of the game. However, the Tigers were going to make it a game, led behind the savvy dribbling of Dyson Berry.

Berry, who was coming off a 25-point performance in their double overtime win over St. Thomas Aquinas, showed his force underneath the bucket. After a Jalen Pope three ball, Berry had two easy baskets inside to cut the lead to 12-11.

Saint Ignatius held a 16-13 lead after the first quarter, in which Dyson Berry continued to be the difference maker for Washington. He hit a huge three to cut the lead to one with 4:45 to play in the second quarter, but then Matt Davet started to be an ever bigger force inside for the Wildcats. The senior helped the ‘Cats maintain a lead that they would hold the entire night. A “diff” of one would be the closest the Tigers would get to the Wildcats.

Washington narrowed the game within one before halftime after a J.J. Streeter 3-pointer and Berry drive setting the score at 28-27 Saint Ignatius with 43 seconds left. Matt Davet closed the first half out with a pair of free throws to make it 30-27 Wildcats at the break.

The first half featured a lot of tough defense between the two teams, and featured 10 turnovers for the Tigers, and eight for the Wildcats.

But then the second half came, and it was an entire different ballgame.

The Wildcats started the third quarter on a 6-0 run, shooting their lead out to 9 points after Austen Yarian and Matt Davet began running the floor so smoothly. It was 38-29 Saint Ignatius with just over five minutes to play in the quarter.

Saint Ignatius then acquired their largest lead in the third quarter after a Michael Spear three-ball, making it 45-35 Wildcats over Washington. And as much as Dyson Berry tried to keep his Tigers ballclub in the game, Saint Ignatius always found a way to have an answer, and that answer was the 6’5’’ junior from Gesu.

Luke Wiskes came alive in the third and fourth quarters and helped the Wildcats to run away with the game en route to win No. 15. He knocked down a huge three to make the lead 52-41 in the closing seconds of the third quarter, which was immediately followed by a Jon Barnes three to make the lead 55-43 Wildcats. Saint Ignatius held a 59-43 lead heading to the final period.

Wiskes hit another triple to increase the lead to 73-49 with over four minutes remaining in regulation. With his defense and a strong junior five out on the floor for Coach Becker’s squad, the Wildcats outscored Washington 23-13 in the final quarter. A Neeko Melendez three-point play in the closing seconds allowed the Wildcats to win, 82-55, over a rising Tigers program. Washington is under the direction of first year head Michael Cruz, who was with the Regional Champion Garfield Heights Bulldogs last season.

Head Coach Brian Becker ‘77: “We’ve been kind of waiting on Luke. We brought him up to varsity last year for a reason. He has some talent. The foot injuries set him aside a little bit, we’re still trying to figure out where he belongs on the floor, what position he plays, what spots are best for him. But I thought he had a real nice game. He let the game come to him, and that’s smart basketball.”

Washington entered having won 8 of their past 10 games, but those two losses for the Tigers came in the final quarter, losing heartbreakers versus Hoover and Ellet. Coach Cruz’ team was able to make large comebacks in those games and put themselves in position to try and win. However, that would not happen inside Sullivan Gymnasium.

“We beat ourselves in the first half. We turned the ball over. I thought our defense was lackluster at best,” Coach Becker said. “But the second half we played our style of basketball. We were focused, we passed the basketball, we were crisp on defense, good with our traps. We found open people who made open shots. When we’re focused we’re pretty good, and like I said it was a tale of two halves. Massillon’s a good team, but I think we completely dominated the second half.”

Saint Ignatius was led in scoring by Matt Davet, once again, as he finished the night with a team-high 23 points, finishing 8-for-15 from the field, and shot 87% at the charity stripe. Luke Wiskes followed with 14 points, including two big three-pointers, shooting 83% from the field. Michael Spear finished with 13 points, and Austen Yarian notched 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington was led in scoring by Dyson Berry with 24 points, shooting 50% from the field.

The Wildcats now get set for a huge matchup on Saturday evening in Westerville with the Westerville South Wildcats, the defending Division 1 State Champions. Led by Ohio State recruit Kaleb Wesson, the Wildcats will enter with a 16-5 record, and a 10-0 record in the Ohio Capital Conference. The Wildcats defeated Westerville Central Friday night, 73-44, behind 22 points from Wesson.

“I think you need to be sharp going into the tournament,” said Coach Becker. “Certainly, with the quick turnaround tomorrow with Westerville South, last year’s state champs, you wanted to get a win and be on a positive not going down to Columbus to battle those guys, because I’m sure it’ll be a tough game going down there. But it’s about confidence and about what we do, and I think if we take care of business, and we do what we’re capable of doing, we’re dangerous. If we beat ourselves, then we beat ourselves and we’re the only ones to blame.”

Tipoff from Westerville is at 5:00 in the “Battle of the Wildcats.” You can catch all of the action live on the Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network with Matt MacKenzie ‘18 and Brendan DeVenney ‘17 on the call.