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Lakewood, OH– The Diocese of Cleveland’s annual Priests Vs Seminarians basketball game was a success as the Seminarians took down the Priests 54-18 propelled by a hot start.
The Seminarians came ready to play out of the gate as they would have a kill shot right away. It didn’t matter if they shot from inside or outside the arc, shots seemed to fall automatically. While driving, they forced former Lake Catholic basketball player Fr Eric Garris into foul trouble.
It took him four minutes to amass 3 fouls, leading to Fr Dominic Gideon subbing in for him. The first timeout came with 11:40 left to play in the first half with the Seminarians up 12-0 with 9 of those 12 coming from beyond the arc. Fast forward 2 minutes, it was 19-0 halfway through the first half. Fr Ian Kelly would open the scoring for the Priests as he put back his original miss. The rest of the first half scoring for the Priests came from Fr Jeff Barnish and Fr Garris who both scored 1 from the line while Fr Garris added a field goal to give himself 3 points. The Seminarians were led by Conor Trout in the first half as he had all 9 of his total points. Overall, five 3’s fell in this half for the Seminarians. Heading into the locker room, it was the Seminarians up 33-6.
The second half was closer than the first. The Seminarians were still the better team, but they only outscored the Priests 19-12. Before play got back underway, Bishop Edward Malesic made his appearance at the game. While he didn’t play, he still wore his #12 jersey to the event. This jersey was gifted to him by Fr Garris who gave him number 12 because he is the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. Both Fr Damian Ference and Fr Garris had 4 fouls by the end of the game as this embodied the physicality the game had. Fr David Stavarz and Fr Kelly knocked down the only 3’s of the game for the Priests. Fr Garris took his tally up to 5 points with another field goal. Nate Menkhaus scored his second 3 of the game for the Seminarians. Chris Cotone, Ben Baratian, and Chris Villarreal all added 3’s in the second half as well. Things slowed down towards the end as the scoring dried up. As the buzzer sounded, the Seminarians took home the win 54-18.
While the game didn’t go the way the Priests hoped, they still were all smiles at the end of the game. The goal of the event was to increase brotherhood and bring people together. That is exactly what happened. The Seminary had their own student section, and many priests were in attendance including Fr Joe Menkhaus, the brother of Nate Menkhaus. Overall, this event proved the faith is alive and well in the Diocese of Cleveland and will be for years to come.
Priests Key Players
#15 Father Ian Kelly: 5 Points
#26 Father David Stavarz: 3 Points
#32 Father Eric Garris: 5 Points
Seminarians Key Players
#3 Nate Menkhaus: 8 Points
#6 Connor Trout: 9 Points
#99 Chuck Cairnie: 5 Points, 5 Rebounds
Player of the Game: Connor Trout
