CLEVELAND HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL – The Wildcats kicked off their season with a 79 to 33 victory over John Hay in the Great Lakes Classic, this year hosted at newly renovated Cleveland Heights High School. Cleveland Heights hosted a large slate of games featuring some of the top teams in the greater Cleveland Area throughout the weekend. Teams include Garfield Heights, Cornerstone Christian, Lutheran East, Beachwood, Shaker Heights, and of course Cleveland Heights.
Saint Ignatius was matched up with John Hay for the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign. John Hay finished last season at 9-8 and 6-3 in the Senate League.
We got our first glimpse of Saint Ignatius’s up-tempo, small ball offense right from the tip. Neeko Melendez, Tevin Jackson, and Chase Toppin all making the starting line up. Aymin Bahur and Dominic Dinunzio rounded off the starting five down low. Melendez, Jackson, and Toppin are three key players to creating the up tempo game that the Wildcats will be able to run all season. Sophomores Jackson and Toppin showed no nerves starting in their first varsity game and immediately showed how they could help push the teams transition offense.
Down low, Dominic Dinunzio made his presence felt rebounding the ball. Dom finished the game with six rebounds. Junior Nate Hubbard, who will be another key presence down low, came into the game and immediately was able put up a few points.
An impressive looking opening half to the season was highlighted by the team’s all around scoring. The Cats had nine team assists in the first quarter of the game and were up to an 18 point lead with five minutes to play in the first half. The Cats threw in a 2-3 zone which did its job and held John Hay to 3 of 26 from the field during the first half. Team chemistry and impressive ball movement were noticeable all game. There was absolutely no selfishness shown for the Wildcats which paid off and put the Cats up 37-14 by halftime.
Senior Josh Ozanne spoke about the all around play the following the game. “Not a single person carried the team which is good in a sense because it shows our ability to share the ball and play as a team.” Ozanne, who along with senior Jon Barns, is not available to play until the third game of the season when the Cats take on Cornerstone Christian.
The Wildcats did not put on the brakes to start the second half. They outscored John Hay 26-11 in the third quarter with help. Neeko Melendez was lights out in the second half scoring all his points from behind the arc. Melendez finished with a team high 15 points on 5 for 9 shooting from long range. Neeko finished as MVP of the game for the Great Lakes Classic.
Luke Wiskes started his senior season off right after a slow junior season putting up 12 points along with 2 three pointers and a few good moves down low. He added on 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
“Senior year with the guys I’ve been playing with my whole life… [I] love it,” Wiskes talked about starting off his senior year right and a successful first win, “The team had great chemistry and fed off each other the whole game.”
Wiskes stands out with his ability to attack down low as a big man but not afraid to shoot the ball. Junior Lukas Bielek came off the bench and put up his share of points finishing the game with 12 points. Bielek who shot well from behind the arc in preseason scrimmages went 0 for 5 yesterday. Once Bielek gets settled in, expect to see much more than 12 points per game.
The Wildcats added on 16 more in the fourth quarter making the final score 79 to 33. There is no questions the Cats came out firing on all cylinders but there can be no letting up.
They showed some very promising signs last night but the schedule only gets tougher from here. They will be back at Sullivan Gym for the first time of the season next Saturday to face Lutheran East. Lutheran East, coming off a Div. IV state championship, now playing Div. III, will no doubt put up a fight. The following Tuesday, Cornerstone Christian come to Sullivan Gym who also found themselves with the Div. IV state championship in 2016. A trip back to Cleveland Heights is on the scheduled following the Cornerstone game.
Get ready for an action packed December, basketball fans.
