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Matt Davet Reaches Career Milestone, Wildcats Beat Kenston

By Brendan DeVenney, 02/25/17, 9:15AM EST

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On Senior Night inside Sullivan Gymnasium, Head Coach Brian Becker ‘77 and the Wildcats had to a lot to be happy about. His star forward reached a historic stat, underclassmen shined with the upperclassmen, and a 76-65 victory over Kenston is always pleasing.

First, it was the historic milestone for forward Matt Davet. Davet, who scored the game’s first points with a straight away three ball, entered the game just 16 points away from reaching 1,000 career points at Saint Ignatius. The most points ever scored in a career at Saint Ignatius is by Rudy Kirbus ‘06, who scored 1,357 points.

Davet’s historic achievement came when he scored eight straight points for the Wildcats to put Saint Ignatius up 38-22 with 2:56 to play in the first half. Driving inside just like he always does, he drew an and-1 opportunity, which gave him over 1,000 career points in his 3-year varsity career.

“Kudos to Matt Davet. That’s a huge landmark in his career,” said Head Coach Brian Becker ‘77. “1,000 points is a big deal at Saint Ignatius, especially with the schedule that we play. We’re not playing bums. So we’re playing teams that are defending well, and he gets the best defensive player usually game in and game out. So another solid game for Matt. That’s what leaders do. They come out and give solid basketball games.”

It was a historic moment for him and his family, the Saint Ignatius Basketball program, and the Saint Ignatius community. Those in attendance were treated to one very special moment for a phenomenal basketball player, and and an even better “Man for Others.” But that would not be the only special thing that happened on Friday night on one of the warmest days in February in “The 216.”

With 5:27 left to play in the second quarter, freshman phenom Chase Toppin entered the game in replace of Neeko Melendez and got his first taste of varsity basketball. Toppin has had a special season, as midway through the season he was called up to junior varsity from the freshmen team, and that’s when he played even better. He scored 11 points in the JV’s 70-37 win over Kenston Friday. And he would hold his own in his time out on the floor with four of the five seniors!

Then, fans received got a big treat. Tevin Jackson, the other freshman phenom in the Saint Ignatius Basketball program, entered the game after Davet reached over 1,000 career points and was playing alongside Toppin at the same time. Jackson is the younger brother of Devin Jackson and put up an average of 12 points per game in the junior varsity season, and was the starting point guard all season long as a freshman on JV.

One other junior varsity player entered the game as well, and that would be Nate Hubbard with 12.6 left to play in regulation after the seniors exitted for the final time in the regular season. These three junior varsity players have officially been called up to varsity for the rest of the season in the playoffs to set the roster at 15 players.

While all of this happened, the Wildcats were still taking care of business in the regular season finale. Saint Ignatius led Kenston 23-18 after the first quarter and then 41-28 at halftime. But in the third quarter, the Bombers were trying to make it a game with the skilled play of Joshua Kain, a Walsh University Basketball and Baseball recruit, and Ryan Kooser. Kain hit two big three’s in the third quarter, and Kooser got active as well in the second half, and at one point the Bombers were able to cut it to a four point lead in the third quarter.

But that would be as close as Kenston would get. Matt Davet would still be energetic as always and got the fourth quarter off to a great start with a good old fashioned three-point play to up the lead to seven. An Austen Yarian putback and a Michael Spear transition steal and layup got the game up to a 9-point lead with just over six minutes left to play.

An Austen Yarian and-1 score capped off a huge 11-2 run in the fourth quarter that featured the phenomenal play of the five seniors and made it a 66-56 game. Kenston would not be able to overcome that deficit even though they were able to cut the lead to six in the final minutes. Matt Davet got the exclamation point for the game to make the final 76-65.

“I thought Michael Spear down the stretch gave us some good solid minutes. The freshmen are the freshmen. They’re going to come in and give us some sparks here and there,” Coach Becker said. “How much they play is how much they play. They have to earn playing time. But certainly I think there’s some quickness and athleticism in Toppin and Jackson, and Hubbard is a big strong guy that will challenge us in practice right now and hopefully in the future he’ll pan out.”

Matt Davet finished the night with a game-high 29 points, shooting 64%, and going perfect at the charity stripe. He also grabbed eight rebounds and had three steals. For those counting at home, Davet now has 1,013 points in his career wearing the Blue & Gold.

Spear also had a productive night offensively, finishing with 15 points and shooting 77%. Yarian contributed 10 points with eight rebounds.

For Kenston, the Bombers were led in scoring by Ryan Kooser with 27 points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Joshua Kain contributed 18 points for the now 12-10 Bombers.

Saint Ignatius finishes the regular season 17-5 and will now gear up for their “Road to the Final Four,” which begins next Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. inside Sullivan Gymnasium for the Sectional Final of the Strongsville District. The No. 1 seeded Wildcats will play the winner of the Sectional Semifinal between #5 Parma Senior and #10 Valley Forge. The Redmen and Patriots will play on Wednesday night at the home of the Redmen.

“It’s tournament time. 17-5 is a solid record,” Coach Becker said. “The No. 1 seed is something we were after. We’re capable of playing really good basketball, we just gotta go out and play.”