Akron, Ohio - The young Fighting Irish, who improved to 11-2, completed a season sweep over the Wildcats' ninth-graders by out-scoring the Blue 'Cats, 19-1, over the final stages of the first half.
St. Vincent-St. Mary also came away with a five-point victory over the Gold 'Cats at Father Sullivan Gymnasium in late December.
Trailing, 14-9, after the first quarter on Thursday night in the Rubber City, the Blue 'Cats responded with a jump shot by guard Peter Mattimore, a basket by Chris Snyder off a turnover and a smooth pivot move from post Henry Raynor that Henry turned into a one-hander off the glass. Raynor's effort put the 'Cats in front, 15-14.
In what was definitely the turning point of the game, the Fighting Irish, quickly and authoritatively, took away the brief momentum Saint Ignatius had and never gave it back to the Wildcats.
Beating the Blue 'Cats off the dribble and in transition, St. Vincent-St. Mary went on a 13-0 run and, after a Saint Ignatius free throw, closed out the first half with 3-pointers from Andrew Morse and Trinny Henderson. Henderson's deep trey flirted with the rafters inside The LeBron James Arena.
"Basic things that we know we can control," said Blue 'Cats Head Coach Regan Sweeney of the many dribble drives and layups that the Fighting Irish turned into points. "Defense and effort, that's what we pride ourselves on. It just wasn't there tonight."
The Blue 'Cats, who now stand 7-3 on the season, trailed by 15 points after Snyder converted his steal into two free throws with 5 minutes and 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
St. Vincent-St. Mary went right back to its transition, push the ball up the floor at every opportunity offense and increased its advantage to 19 points. Fueling the Fighting Irish offense was Juan Cortes, who had several on-the-money assists, both in the half court and in transition.
Saint Ignatius got some life again after Raynor blocked a shot in the lane and hustled down the floor for a layup.
That life was short-lived, however, as two free throws by Morse, a driving layup by Darrian Lewis and a layin by Jumacius Portis had the SVSM faithful celebrating a 24-point lead late in the third quarter.
"We had a good three days of practicing leading up to tonight, but we came out flat." Coach Sweeney said. "We knew that all of their guys are ball handlers, that they get to the paint and they dump (pass off). We got beat every single time to the middle."
Up next for the Blue 'Cats is Wednesday's (January 31st) trip to Viking Village to take on the Freshmen Basketball Team from Villa Angela-St. Joseph. The tip off will be 6 PM.
PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE FOR THE JUNIOR VARSITY AND VARSITY BASKETBALL GAMES AT KENSTON NEXT MONTH: The February 23rd matchups between the Wildcats and the Bombers will begin with a Junior Varsity Game at 5 PM, followed by the Varsity tip at 6:30.
We'll see you at Father Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday night for the highly anticipated matchup with the Bulldogs from Garfield Heights. For a preview on Garfield Heights and Cleveland Central Catholic, which visits Sullivan Gymnasium on Saturday night, see this corner's post from Thursday morning.
Have a great weekend.