Ohio City - The 10-5 Wildcats, ranked 11th in cleveland.com's seven-county area Top 25 poll, will make the short trip to Detroit Avenue in Lakewood Friday evening to face second-ranked St. Edward (15-3) on Coach Jim Connors Court. As always, you can expect a packed house to be on hand at The Eagles' Nest.
Friday's action will begin with a 5:30 PM Junior Varsity matchup between the longtime West Side rivals. The 14-1 JV 'Cats, currently on a seven-game winning streak, will be looking to sweep the Junior Varsity season series from the Eagles. Saint Ignatius' Jayvees prevailed in the first meeting this winter, 59-52, on January 20th in Father Sullivan Gymnasium.
Like St. Edward's Varsity, the Eagles' Junior Varsity is also 15-3 after a 59-57 overtime victory at Lutheran East last weekend. The JV Eagles rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit.
As for Friday night's area-headliner Varsity Game, which tips off at 7, it's the Wildcats who will be attempting to even the score.
St. Edward's Varsity, which is undefeated on Coach Jim Connors Court this season, came into Sullivan Gymnasium on January 20th and walked away with a 74-62 victory. The Wildcats made a respectable game of it after the Eagles led by 14 points at halftime and increased that to a 28-point lead with 6 minutes and 2 seconds remaining to be played.
Helping fuel the Eagles' victory in Ohio City were two of Coach Eric Flannery's gifted sophomores, 6-foot-1 guard Montorie Foster, who scored 20 points, and 6-4 guard Grant Huffman, who contributed 18 points along with many other efforts that don't find their way into a scorebook. St. Edward also benefited from 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and eight rebounds courtesy of 6-4 senior forward Patrick "P.J." Flannery, Coach Flannery's son.
The story for Saint Ignatius in this season's first meeting with the Eagles was standout senior guard Neeko Melendez. Despite battling cramps and a sore shoulder, Neeko left it all on the floor to the tune of a game-high 24 points, including four 3-pointers.
Coach Brian Becker's Wildcats are coming off last weekend's 77-68 setback at now eighth-ranked Benedictine and St. Edward got all it could handle at Lutheran East on February 2nd, before a clutch three-point play by savvy 6-foot-8 senior forward/post Emmett Chambers keyed a 77-72 victory. The Wildcats defeated Lutheran East way back on December 9th, 51-40, in Sullivan Gymnasium.
Along with maintaining their second-place area ranking this week, the Eagles will enter Friday night's game as the 12th-ranked team in the Associated Press Division I State Poll and the sixth-ranked program in MaxPreps Sports' Division I State Poll. St. Edward's only loss in Ohio this winter came at the hands of the AP's sixth-ranked Division I Titans from Toledo St. John's Jesuit, 59-45, in the storied Titan Dome on January 13th.
THE BEACHWOOD BISON WILL PAY A VISIT TO OHIO CITY ON SATURDAY NIGHT FOR WHAT COULD BE, AND WE EMPHASIZE COULD BE, THE LAST HOME GAME OF THE SEASON FOR FOR THE VARSITY AND JUNIOR VARSITY WILDCATS (COACH BECKER EXPLAINS IN HIS OUTLOOK ON ST. EDWARD AND BEACHWOOD BELOW, WHICH ENDS THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW).
From this corner: Beachwood stands 10-8 after a tough 75-74 loss at West Geauga on Tuesday night. Outscoring the Wolverines by eight points over the final eight minutes just wasn't enough.
Sirr Hughes with 19 points and Collin Albert's 17 points led the Bison effort.
Beachwood went 17-8 last season and advanced to the District Semifinals. They finished 12-2 in the Chagrin Valley Conference. In 2015-16, the Bison won 22 games.
St. Edward faced Beachwood on December 8th of this season in The Eagles' Nest and defeated the Bison, 78-58.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE JUNIOR VARSITY BASKETBALL WILDCATS HAVE ADDED A GAME TO THEIR SCHEDULE: The JV 'Cats will travel to Elyria Catholic on February 14th for a 6 PM tipoff.
FROM COACH BECKER ON THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES: "Obviously a big rival game, an important game," Coach Becker said of Friday night's trip to St. Edward. "I think you have to keep it in perspective in that it is a game to build on going into the tournament.
"We've had some ups and downs, we've been inconsistent throughout the season. I would like to see a consistent effort, offensively and defensively. Certainly containing their guards is a big task. Foster, Terry (junior Demetrius Terry) and Huffman, those guys play extremely well together. They complement each other very well, they get to the basket and they shoot threes (3-pointers).
"Then you throw in Chambers, Blanton (6-6 sophomore forward Devontae Blanton) and (P.J.) Flannery. It's a great corps of individuals that play well together. We've got to come out and play really good defense and for us, it's about effort. We have had games this year where we have shown some great effort. If we're consistent on the effort side, we'll be alright.
"Beachood is a team that is going to go up and down the court," Coach Becker continued. "They have good guards and they like to run and press. We certainly have a size advantage on them, but what they have is quickness. They're open court, they shoot a lot of threes and they get in seams. Tempo will be important for us.
"Beachwood could possibly be our final home game of the year," said Coach Becker. "We haven't scheduled any other (home) games as of this date, so Saturday will be Senior Night. It's a night when the Seniors will be appreciated and honored."
Have a great rest of the week and we will see you at St. Edward this evening (Wednesday) for the Freshmen Basketball Doubleheader rematch with the Eagles. The games are scheduled for 4:30 PM and 6 PM.
Then we'll see you right back at St. Edward on Friday night (again, 5:30 PM JV and 7 PM Varsity) and in Father Sullivan Gymnasium on Saturday for Senior Night.