Strong defensive effort by No. 11 St. Ignatius leads to big 65-53 basketball win over No. 4 St. Edward

CLEVELAND -- It seemed like St. Ignatius senior guard Lukas Bielek couldn’t miss a shot from the field in the second half, and St. Edward seemed like it couldn’t make a free throw. Mix in a stifling match-up zone deployed by the Wildcats and you have a recipe for an upset.

Bielek finished the night with a game-high 24 points. But St. Edward, ranked No. 4 in the cleveland.com boys basketball Top 25, connected on just 7-of-21 free throws as No. 11 St. Ignatius stunned its archrival, 65-53, in front of a sold out crowd at St. Ignatius' Sullivan Gym.

The Wildcats' win avenged a 13-point loss to the Eagles last month.

Bielek scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half as the Wildcats improved to 11-6 on the year. St. Edward fell to 12-6.

St. Ignatius coach Brian Becker’s decision to use a matchup zone allowed the Wildcats to dominate the defensive glass and seemed to flummox the Eagles, who possession after possession settled for mid-range jump shots that just wouldn’t fall.

“St. Ed’s is a really potent basketball team and really good rebounding team. If you can keep them off the glass and keep them from getting run outs you’ve got a chance,” said Becker after the win. “I don’t remember them getting a lot of fast breaks, and it became a possession game, which favored us,” said Becker.

It also favored the Wildcats that the Eagles were as cold as the Cleveland night from the foul line as they clanged free throw after free throw off the rim.

“When you miss that many free throws, I think it’s more of a mental thing than it is anything else. I don’t know if it was the atmosphere or the rims or anything else. You shoot 7-of-21 from the free throw line at home or on the road and it’s going to be tough to win,” said St. Edward coach Eric Flannery.

And the match-up zone deployed by St. Ignatius just added to the Eagles misery.

“I thought we did a good job early in the game of moving the basketball and finding some open guys, but then we started standing around, got a little stagnant and we started taking some bad shots. That’s where Ignatius got the lead and we just had a hard time recovering from that,” said Flannery.

St. Ignatius led 17-14 after one quarter and by 11 at the half (34-23). It maintained the 11-point lead (45-34) heading into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles closed the lead to five on a Devontae Blanton with just under three minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But St. Ignatius big man Kevin Davet got free for a dunk to bump the lead back to seven, and the Wildcats were able to hold on for the win.

Bielek’s big night was a result of the strong floor game by St. Ignatius junior point guard Chase Toppin, who dribbled his way through cracks in the Eagles defense and was able to deliver the ball to Bielek for open jumpers.

“Chase Toppin always looks for me,” said Bielek. “I missed three 3s in the first quarter but he kept looking for me,” said Bielek. “I just play hard all the time and every shot I think I can make."

Bielek made the defensive play of the night when he rejected a layup attempt by St. Edward’s high-flying senior guard Demetrius Terry late in the third quarter. Following the

Bielek screamed in Terry’s face.

Toppin, meanwhile, finished with 12 points.

Davet added 11 before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

“I thought Bielek and Toppin controlled the tempo tonight,” said Flannery. “The ball was in both of their hands most of the night, and they made good decisions and found the open guys and got to the free throw line and scored when they had to and I really

that was the difference.”

Henry Raynor, a 6-foot-6 sophomore for the Wildcats, finished with 8 points. His biggest impact came on the defensive glass where hauled in rebound after rebound, finishing the night with 10.

Blanton led St. Edward with 20 points while Terry added 13.

The two teams could meet a third time in the district tournament in Lakewood. The loss should serve as a wakeup call for St. Edward, a team many considered a strong favorite to win that district.

“I think this was an eye-opener,” said Flannery. “Now we know there’s a team that can beat us early.”