Eagles Defeat Normandy; Ignatius Rematch Next

Eagle guard/Ohio State football recruit Kevin Dever dribbles out the clock on St. Edward's 85-46 tournament win.  

When the St. Edward basketball team left the court after their February 10 loss to St. Ignatius, they had a single goal in mind: to face the Wildcats one more time in the OHSAA tournament. Thanks to their 85-46 win over Normandy on Thursday night, their wish will now be granted. St. Edward and St. Ignatius will meet for the district championship Saturday at 7pm at Strongsville High School. St. Ignatius swept the two regular season games, each a thrilling comeback win in overtime. The Eagles wish to avenge those losses in the sweetest way possible: by ending the Wildcats season.  

                Although the rematch was widely expected, the Normandy Invaders entered Thursday’s game with other ideas. They  hung around with the heavily favored Eagles in the first quarter, trailing 21-14 at the first period break. St. Edward broke the game open with a 20-0 run at the start of the second quarter. Senior Jack Sullivan sparked the run with 8 unanswered points, including a pair of three pointers within 70 seconds. Senior Kelvin Calhoun added a pair of “old fashioned” three point plays (field goal and free throw) during the run, which included two more Sullivan three pointers.

                St. Edward led 48-22 at the half, and continued to pull away. Both teams utilized their benches, as the Eagles had a total of 12 different scorers. Sullivan led the team with 18 points on the night; freshman Grant Huffman had 11; Calhoun and senior Thomas Schmock each scored ten.

                St. Ignatius advanced to the district championship game with a 66-41 win over Brecksville-Broadview Heights on Wednesday night. The Wildcats currently have a four game winning streak against the Eagles, including last season’s district title win at the CSU Wolstein Center. Game time will be 7pm.    

Mike Deneen

Mike Deneen has extensive experience covering sports and community stories for the Lakewood Observer. Mike has been a Senior Industry Analyst for the Freedonia Group in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1998. He has appeared on CNBC’s Closing Bell, NPR’s MarketPlace and has been quoted multiple times in The Wall Street Journal. He has made multiple guest appearances on ESPN Cleveland radio. Mike also writes for Inside Northwestern, a website that covers Northwestern Wildcat Athletics. You can reach him on Twitter at @MikeDeneen1 

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Volume 13, Issue 6, Posted 10:15 PM, 03.09.2017