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KENT, Ohio– Once St.Ignatius was able to score in transition early in the first quarter, that set the tone for the Wildcats down the stretch, helping them come away with a dominant 87-63 win over Jackson to secure a regional final appearance against Brunswick Friday night.
“The pace was right where we wanted it,” Wildcat’s head coach Cam Joyce explained. “It was up and down and we felt like we were aware of them with our size.”
Jackson up 7-2 two minutes into the game. @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/orApAGvwnl
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 13, 2024
It was a strong start to the first quarter for the Polar Bears as they tried to come out and make a statement. What was once a 7-2 lead in the opening two minutes of the game swiftly turned in favor of the Wildcats, starting with their length and transition play.
It was only a matter of time before the Polar Bears would start to force contested shots near the paint due to the size disadvantage. As a result, that started a slew of scoring runs for Joyce’s team that swiftly became too much to overcome throughout the night.
Anthony Fuline developed an early outside shooting game for the Polar Bears that saw them trail 19-16 at the end of the first quarter. From there, the game was dominated by the guard play of the Wildcats.
Matt Ellis scored 10 points off the bench for his team in the second quarter and once he got easy baskets near the rim, his teammates fed off of his energy. Players like Quinn Qoidke and Damon Friery feasted, and it took the Polar Bears four minutes to score their first points of the second quarter.
St. Ignatius leads Jackson 23-16, a fast start to the second quarter for the Wildcats with a spark off the bench from Matt Ellis. @SportsKee1 @SIHSBasketball1 pic.twitter.com/3f63TxKfrc
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 13, 2024
The Wildcats would outscore the Polar Bears 21-8 in the second quarter to head into halftime with a comfortable 40-24 lead.
“That’s us, that’s who we are, it’s our depth,” Joyce said. “Being down Sam Springer is changing our depth a little bit but our guys have stepped up….our depth is how we get it done.”
Reece Robinson continued to dominate near the rim throughout the second half, no matter where he was able to get the ball near the rim. He ended the night with 17 points.
Reece Robinson has been a problem for the Polar Bears all game.
St. Ignatius leads 50-26, under 6 left in the 3rd Q. @SportsKee1 @CamKnows_ pic.twitter.com/xs0710ee8L— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 13, 2024
The Polar Bears wouldn’t get within 20 points in the second half as they were just outmatched throughout the night. Along with Robinson inside the paint was Damon Friery, he ended up finishing with a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats and often found himself leading the fastbreaks throughout the second half.
End of 3rd: St. Ignatius 63, Jackson 38. @SportsKee1 @SIHSSports @JackZapolnik pic.twitter.com/y5S7TvSFZg
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 14, 2024
Matt Ellis would finish with 12 points off the bench for the Wildcats to headline a dominant performance Wednesday night, extending the team’s winning streak to 12 games as they inch closer to another state semifinal appearance.
“At the end of the day we just want to make sure that we’re defending, pressuring, controlling the tempo and dominating the glass,” Joyce said. “We feel like the scoreboard will reflect all that.”
For the Polar Bears, Fuline ended the night with a team-high 15 points with Mitch Finefrock adding 14 points as well.
