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Kent, Ohio – The Saint Ignatius Wildcats defeated the Canton McKinley Bulldogs, 73-46, in Saturday evening’s regional championship at Kent State University.
RJ Jones had the first points of the game to give Ignatius an early lead. Reed Sims countered with a basket of his own to knot the score. He would add a triple to give McKinley its only lead of the game at 5-2. Saint Ignatius would take the lead thanks to a runner from Damon Friery in the first quarter. It was a defensive battle early on with the Wildcats leading 10-9.
The Wildcats pulled away in the second quarter.
Jimmy Thomas scored to make the score 12-9. Damon Friery canned a triple to increase the lead to six at 15-9. After an Anthony Chavers slam dunk, the Wildcats rattled off seven straight points to push their lead to 22-11. A couple more baskets from Anthony Chavers cut the Bulldog deficit to 22-15. However, the Saint Ignatius offense, which controlled the pace in the first half, eventually found their stride. They went on a 20-8 run to close the half, taking a 42-23 lead at the break.
Damon Friery had a slam dunk, then a pair of triples to increase the lead to 49-23. The Wildcats would end the third quarter with a 55-28 win. Kalli Johnson also contributed to the scoring, with six points in the stanza.
Saint Ignatius would maintain their lead in the fourth quarter to cruise to victory.
The Wildcats were led by senior Kalli Johnson, who finished with 19 points. Senior forward and Dayton commit Damon Friery finished with 16 points, and junior forward RJ Jones added 11. In total, ten players ended up scoring on the evening.
Canton McKinley was led by senior guard Reed Sims Jr., who finished with 21 points, followed by junior Jayveion Carter with 11 points, and sophomore Anthony Travers with ten.
Saint Ignatius advances to the state final four where they will play on Sunday, March 16th at a site to be determined.
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