Kent, OH- The Blue Devils of Brunswick entered Friday night looking to make history. Rather, to continue writing the story on their historic season. For the first time in school history, they were on the precipice of the Final Four. For much of the night, it appeared they held an edge on St. Ignatius, something many gave them little or no shot at doing.
Looking to avenge their 76-59 defeat to the hands of the Wildcats on January 7th, the Blue Devils ended the 1st 8 minutes of play with a 4 points advantage, 15-11. The Blue Devils featured a balance offensive attack in the opening quarter, with four of their starters putting points on the board, led by Quinn Barnett with 6 on two makes from downtown.
St. Ignatius answered in the 2nd quarter with an 11-7 advantage. Damon Friery led the charge with 6 in the quarter, giving him 11 on the half. Brunswick's Quinn Barnett added 6 of his own, giving him a team leading 12.
After the horn sounded, there was a technical foul assessed to Wildcat guard Quinn Woidke, so the 3rd quarter opened with the Blue Devils shooting two free throws and retaining possession. Trey Drexler sank both from the charity strip to start the Blue Devils charge. Defensively the Blue Devils only surrendered 6 in the frame, while they tallied 15, with 5 players scoring, led by Tommy Morgan with 5.
The Blue Devils stood 8 minutes from continuing their historic run. With no shot clock, it became evident that they would use as much clock as they could as they passed up decent looks in order to milk the clock some more with each possession. The only issue was when they finally shot, the shots weren't falling. On the other end, it was Reece Robinson, despite playing with foul trouble most of the night, leading the way for the Wildcats. In the quarter, prior to fouling out in the final minute, Robinson scored 9 of his 11 points.
Facing a 1 point deficit with 6 seconds remaining, the Blue Devils inbounds pass went over the intended targets head and was corralled by Quinn Woidke, who drove the lane and laid it in to secure the win and send the Wildcats back to the Final 4.
