The St. Ignatius Wildcats (2-1) hosted the Lutheran West Longhorns (4-0) on Friday night in a matchup between two top 25 schools ranked in Cleveland area according to Cleveland.com.
The Longhorns started the game fast and with a purpose. Junior guard Derek Fairley led the charge with 8 points to help them capitalize on the multitude of missed shots and offensive fouls by the Wildcats to end the quarter with a 21-8 lead.
Coach Cam Joyce and the Wildcats would not go away easily in the second quarter. The Wildcats showed a keeled mentality looking to attack. Early in the quarter they showed why they're ranked as one of the top five programs in the area. The team started to run a full court press which frustrated Lutheran West a bit. Junior big man Reece Robinson asserted his dominance in the game quickly by attacking the boards both on the offense and defense side matching his season total of 3 rebounds and adding 8 points in the paint to stop the bleeding of a large deficit that once rose to as much as 10 points with 5 minutes left in the quarter. The Longhorns kept their continuous scoring pace to match the Wildcats second quarter intensity walking into halftime with a 35-25 lead.
The second half went all in the favor of Lutheran West. From knocking down just about every open shot that was given to some questionable calls by the refs that had many fans shaking their heads, no momentum could swing in the direction of the St. Ignatius. Ace Buckner, recognized as one of the best scorers for the Wildcats could not find a rhythm for himself to contribute to the game. Lutheran West guard Jayson Levis who finished the first half with 7 points seemed unstoppable with 17 second half points to lead both teams with 24 points knocking down contested layups and three point shots. The Longhorns blew the game open in the fourth holding on to a 20 point lead winning the game 74-54 in what many will call an upset.
The Wildcats fall to a record of 2-2 while the Longhorns stay perfect at 5-0.
I had a chance to talk with Lutheran West coach Jordan Duke after the game.
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