Lakewood, Ohio - It was an eventful afternoon and evening for the Saint Ignatius Wildcats' Freshman Basketball Program, to say the least.

 After the 'Cats' Freshmen Blue and Gold teams had boarded their bus for the short trip to St. Edward on Wednesday, they got the news that the times for their annual doubleheader rematch with the Eagles' Freshmen Gold and Green teams were changed. 

 Instead of Saint Ignatius' Blue 'Cats facing St. Edward's Gold Team at 4:30 PM on the Eagles' Coach Jim Connor's Court and the 'Cats' Gold team taking on the Eagles' Green team at 6 PM, the Wildcats' respective Freshmen Head Coaches, Regan Sweeney '11 and Tom Parker '10, were informed Wednesday afternoon that the tip off times were changed to 5:30 PM and 7 PM.

 The majority of the parents and other fans who arrived at St. Edward between 3:45 and 4:15 PM to gear up for what they thought to be a 4:30 first-game tipoff, were understanding. 

 As for the Wildcats' Freshmen, who had boarded, unboarded and then reboarded their bus, they held true to the ageless saying, "Never underestimate the resiliency of youth."

 In Wednesday evening's opener that followed a closed practice by the St. Edward Varsity Team, which hosts the Varsity 'Cats on Friday night, Coach Sweeney watched his now 9-3 Saint Ignatius Blue come away with an impressive 56-44 victory over the St. Edward Gold. It marked just the fourth time in 18 games this season that the Eagles' Gold found itself in the loss column.

 As for the nightcap, St. Edward's Green Team showed everyone in attendance why it has only been defeated once in what are currently 17 games, as the young Eagles moved to a 13-point lead by halftime, withstood a couple of strong surges by Coach Parker's Gold, and went on to a 63-53 victory.

 After winning a pair of down-to-the-wire games versus Saint Ignatius in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Freshmen Doubleheader at Father Sullivan Gymnasium, St. Edward, behind its Green Team's effort on Wednesday night, won the four-game, regular-season series versus the Freshmen 'Cats, 3-1.

 FROM COACH SWEENEY: "We came out strong right away," said Regan of his Blue Team's solid performance in The Eagles' Nest. "We preached all week that we have to set the pace, right from the first tip.

 "We came out, got in our offense and our pressure (defense). We set the tone, it was as simple as that," Coach Sweeney continued. 

 Coach Sweeney concurred with this old gym rat, who was impressed with the way the Blue 'Cats' "bigs," particularly Henry Raynor and Luke Roggenburk, ran the floor against the Gold Eagles' pressure.

 "We knew we had two ball handlers in the backcourt versus their pressure and if we could get the ball to the middle of the floor to the big men, we had an easy layup."

 The Blue 'Cats, who led 25-19 at halftime and 36-29 entering the final seven minutes, started to take control in the early stages of the fourth quarter.

 With Roggenburk and Raynor beating the Eagles down the floor for transition layups, Raynor scoring off a Roggenburk assist and ever-present guard Peter Mattimore burying a 3-pointer and two free throws, Saint Ignatius Blue moved to a 13-point lead with 3 minutes and 59 seconds remaining to be played.

 The 'Cats then left no doubt behind a jumper by forward Will Yontek and the free-throw shooting of guard Jack Dunstan and Roggenburk.

 Mattimore led the Blue 'Cats with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and Raynor and Roggenburk finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Guard Shane Macalla had 10 points for the Gold Eagles and his teammate and forward Joshua Norton tossed in seven points.  

 Up next for the Blue 'Cats is Saturday's 2 PM encounter with the Freshmen hoopsters from Elyria Catholic in Father Sullivan Gymnasium.

 FROM COACH PARKER: "They had too many easy baskets, especially for a Saint Ignatius-St. Edward game," said Coach Parker after his endless-potential Gold 'Cats slipped to 11-4. "They beat us from the beginning to the end."

Coach Parker emphasized that Wednesday night's loss wasn't the result of a lack of will or effort, that it was case of not executing properly on defense.

 "I give a shout out to Coach (James) Crawford," Coach Parker said. "He has his team playing really well and they are disciplined."

 Coach Parker said the 18 points the Saint Ignatius Gold yielded in the first quarter were the most his team has given up in an opening quarter all season.

 St. Edward's Green Team built leads of 14, 15 and 17 points in the third quarter before taking a 13-point advantage into the final seven minutes.

 Endless-hustle guard Justin Slattery led the Eagles with 17 points and Coach Crawford also received 15-point nights from forward Taurye Allen and post Caleb Warren.

 Smooth shooting guard JP Tijanich finished with 14 points to lead the Gold 'Cats, including three deep 3-pointers.

 Wildcats guard/forward Justin Lazuka totaled 12 points, forward Emmett Hanna contributed seven points, and post Aidan Hubbard and guard Declan Mangan each had six points.

 The Gold 'Cats will look to bounce back on Saturday, when they face the Freshmen Bison from Beachwood at 4 PM in Sullivan Gymnasium.