Ohio City - With the victory over the sixth-seeded Bees from Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Coach Brian Becker's third-seeded Wildcats improve to 15-6 and will take a five-game winning streak into Thursday's OHSAA Division I District Semifinal matchup versus seventh-seeded Medina at Strongsville High School. Thursday's tipoff will be 7 PM.
Medina advanced to face the Wildcats by upsetting second-seeded Brunswick, 47-44, at Brunswick on Saturday night. Medina's Battling Bees outscored the Blue Devils, 15-5, in the fourth quarter.
In the other side of the Strongsville Bracket things went as expected. Top-seeded St. Edward overwhelmed the eighth-seeded Rhodes Rams, 88-57, on Coach Jim Connors Court and fourth-seeded Lakewood extended its winning streak to 19 games by defeating fifth-seeded North Royalton, 57-49.
Neighborhood rivals St. Edward and Lakewood will meet for the second time this season in Wednesday's 7 PM OHSAA District Semifinal at Strongsville High School. St. Edward's Eagles defeated Lakewood, 51-38, on opening night in what was the Rangers' first game in their new atmosphere-rich gymnasium.
This corner will preview the Wildcats' District Semifinal encounter with Medina for a Tuesday post and that preview will also include a look at the St. Edward versus Lakewood District Semifinal.
Just a reminder that this year's Strongsville District Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, March 10th in the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University. The tipoff will be 7 PM.
Here is a corner's view on Saturday night's highly competitive matchup with Brecksville-Broadview Heights, which saw the Bees close their season at 15-9.
From storied Father Sullivan Gymnasium: No, this wasn't the same Brecksville-Broadview Heights program that Saint Ignatius held scoreless for 16 minutes and 25 seconds, including the entire third quarter, en route to a 60-23 victory in a March of 2016 District Semifinal Game.
Nor was it the same Bees program that was swatted away by the Wildcats, 66-41, in last year's District Semifinals.
The Brecksville-Broadview Heights team that visited Sullivan Gym on Saturdaynight came into Ohio City with every intention of upsetting Saint Ignatius in the OHSAA Division I Sectional Finals.
However, as strong as the Bees' intentions were, the Wildcats, who had nothing but respect for Brecksville-Broadview Heights, were not going to let that happen.
In what was an emotional battle from the get-go, Coach Brian Becker's 'Cats moved on to Monday's practice for the District Semifinals by ending the Bees' season, 56-48.
"Those kids play hard and Steve (Bees Head Coach Steve Mehalik) does a real nice job coaching them," Coach Becker said of the 2018 version of Brecksville-Broadview Heights Basketball.
"I thought Jon ('Cats senior guard Jon Barnes) did a real good job on Ganley (Bees standout junior forward Kenny Ganley)," Coach Becker continued. "Actually there were multiple people who did a good job on Ganley. He had to work for all of his buckets."
The Bees, behind the play of 6-foot-5 senior post/forward Mike Rose, an Iowa State football recruit, unleashed their strong work ethic right from the opening tipoff. The Bees led, 8-0, after Rose buried a 3-pointer with 2 minutes and 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Saint Ignatius, ranked 11th in cleveland.com's final seven-county area Top 25 poll, turned to the strong play from senior post/forward Aymin Bahhur, the shooting of gifted senior guard Neeko Melendez and the instant-spark off the bench by oh so promising sophomore guard Chase Toppin and knotted the score at 10 entering the second quarter.
ANOTHER NEEKO NIGHT
After the Wildcats' always active senior forward/guard Josh Ozanne and the Bees' Rose exchanged 3-pointers, Saint Ignatius, led by three second-quarter 3-pointers from Melendez and two treys from the ever-present Barnes, moved to a 32-24 lead entering the halftime break.
Two other key plays en route to building an eight-point advantage after the first 16 minutes were a highlight-reel block by multi-skilled senior forward Luke Wiskes and an authoritative put back from Bahhur.
Melendez, who hit five 3-pointers in the season-opening victory over John Hay and six treys in the December 23rd triumph over Canton McKinley, would solve the Bees' defense for another night of six triples.
"I struggled a little bit at the end of the regular season, so I just got into the gym before practice and started putting shots up," said Melendez, who joined Barnes as an Honorable Mention on the 2018 All-Northeast Lakes District Division I Team. "I knew I had to hit perimeter shots tonight because that opens up stuff inside for everybody else, especially against that zone (defense) they were running."
Carrying the momentum they built in the second quarter, the Wildcats rode another 3-pointer by Melendez and two free throws from Wiskes to an 11-point advantage with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights had plenty of fire left, however, as the Bees, fueled by a 3-pointer from senior guard Nate Fuentes and a buzzer-beating 15-foot jumper courtesy of Rose, closed to 45-42 entering the final eight minutes.
With the faithful from both sides living and dying on every pass, shot and rebound, Coach Mehalik's Bees would make it a one-point game in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
Up stepped ice-in-his-veins Melendez with a deep corner 3-pointer that was followed by a layup from Wiskes off an assist from Bahhur. The Wiskes layup was a great example of moving without the ball.
Saint Ignatius, playing with the composure one would associate with a team that faced a who's who regular-season schedule, offset Brecksville-Broadview-Heights' final late-game charges behind the clutch play of Toppin and Wiskes.
In what was a big-time, game-sealing offensive rebound and layup from Wiskes, Luke outmaneuvered the Bees for the ball off what was a front-end miss by the 'Cats on a 1-and-1 free-throw situation.
Melendez led the Wildcats with 18 points off his six treys. Wiskes had nine points to go along with his nine rebounds, Bahhur scored eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Toppin contributed seven momentum-changing points.
The Bees' Rose led all scorers with 21 points, 17 of those coming in the first half. Ganley totaled eight points and Fuentes had three timely 3-pointers.
Saint Ignatius won a spirited battle off the boards, 29-24.
"I thought they played a real good game," Melendez said of Brecksville-Broadview Heights. "They got to the rim and they knocked down shots. They have two really good players in Rose and Ganley. But this time of year, it's all about getting the win. That's all that matters."