AKRON, Ohio- The St. Vincent St. Mary Fighting Irish traveled over to Archbishop Hoban for an In-city rivalry meeting. Hoban and St. Vincent St. Mary showed everyone who packed the gym full why they are one of the best rivalries in Ohio. The Fighting Irish, a school known for its golden era with Lebron James, showed everyone it can still be dominant in its triumphant 71-62 upset win.
“Hey man, it feels great. This is a rivalry game and you know they are the defending state champions. Shoes caught on the other foot, we just didn’t wear that crown but they earned it, it’s theirs right now,” said Coach Dru Joyce II. “You know our season has been tough, we’ve had six losses and three of them we kinda let get away from us. We needed a win like this. The way that it happened was good too. We had four or five guys in double figures and we spread the ball around great tonight.”
Coming into this game The Fighting Irish were 3-6 and the underdogs going into this game. The defending Division I state champs were sitting just above .500 With a record of 5-4. Every rivalry game is a highly anticipated matchup and a hard fought one no matter what the final outcome is. Both of these teams came to fight and had to overcome their mistakes. Both teams were in huge foul trouble all game; both teams had multiple technical fouls throughout the game. The Fighting Irish capitalized on the free throws they were given meanwhile Hoban left plenty of points at the free throw line.
“We were pretty good at the free throw line and you know some of the fouls, it's a rivalry game. You know it’s just gonna be that,” said Coach Joyce. “There’s a lot of emotion going and you know you could just feel it in the stands.”
The entire gymnasium was packed as the crowd roared all night long. Both schools' student sections traded chants back and forth in a very passionate matchup.
“I thought our team handled it pretty well, it’s not easy to play in an environment like that”, said coach Joyce.
There was one big name who was going to make an impact on this game: Jonas Nichols. Jonas scored 24 points and added on another 8 rebounds. The Fighting Irish defense did a great job forcing Jonas Nichols into hard shots tonight. Jason Walker played a great game tonight for the Fighting Irish. Walker is the only returning starter in the lineup and he’s their leader. He finished with 17 points on the night.
“Jason’s our leader, he’s the only returning starter,” said Joyce. “Jason is good, he’s a very accomplished scorer and I thought we did some good stuff to help him out today. He got the ball in his hands a lot and it almost always led to a score whether he set up a pass that led to a shot, he assisted a shot, or he made it himself.”
After getting a much needed win Coach Dru Joyce II and his team will take on Lutheran West in the Scholastic Play by Play tournament this Sunday, January 7th.
Jonas Nichols and Hoban will look to regain their status as a winning team next Friday, January 12th when they host Benedictine. Tip off will take place at 7 p.m.