4 months ago
- High School Sports
- Published: Jan. 04, 2026, 6:05 a.m.
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St. Ignatius vs St. Edward boys basketball, January 3, 2026
CLEVELAND, Ohio — St. Ignatius regularly makes out-of-state trips during its Christmas break.
The Wildcats person been to California before, but their travel this play allowed for a sojourn from a acquainted look successful erstwhile coach Cam Joyce, who took a occupation successful Los Angeles astatine Loyola High School. With St. Ignatius playing a small much than 100 miles southbound successful Torrey Pines, Joyce saw his erstwhile squad push vacation tourney champion JSerra Catholic down to nan ligament successful one-point nonaccomplishment astatine nan buzzer.
New coach Tom Parker had 1 mobility for nan man he succeeded.
“I said, ‘Cam, why didn’t you springiness maine a small extremity aliases something, champ?’ It was bully to spot him,” Parker said. “He talked to nan kids, truthful that was great.”
Joyce’s caller schoolhouse hasn’t played JSerra, but it provided nan Wildcats pinch plentifulness to address. So did Francis Parker and De La Salle, nan different 2 teams that hit St. Ignatius (7-3) astatine nan gauntlet afloat of California powerhouses.
The Wildcats, who entered this week third successful nan cleveland.com boys hoops Top 25, salvaged a triumph successful their last crippled astatine Torrey Pines and returned location to commencement nan caller twelvemonth pinch a 71-67 victory against rival St. Edward connected Saturday astatine Cleveland’s Public Hall.
It marked Parker’s first triumph successful his first crippled successful nan rivalry bid pinch nan Eagles, who entered nan crippled pinch an unbeaten record.
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“San Diego made america stronger,” sophomore defender Denahi Melton said. “It was really beingness retired there.”
To that point, nan Wildcats had been rolling. They avenged past season’s authorities semifinal nonaccomplishment to Olentangy Orange connected a neutral tribunal successful Columbus and hit St. Vincent-St. Mary connected nan roadworthy successful Akron.
Their first 2 games successful California could person gone either way, elder defender Alex Mack said. Then came nan adversity.
“Our 3rd game, we fell isolated a small spot and we had a determination to make,” Mack said.
That determination was a crossroads: judge that California’s teams were conscionable excessively reliable aliases shingle it disconnected pinch nan looming rivalry crippled aft nan return to Cleveland. Senior guardant R.J. Jones called it a wake-up call.
“We knew it was going to beryllium immoderate competition,” he said, “but we didn’t cognize it was going to beryllium for real. It really woke america up.”
Parker said he saw maturation from his players conscionable from spending clip together. They besides played pinch a changeable timepiece astatine nan event.
“I deliberation it helped america get an knowing of who we are,” Parker said. “It showed america immoderate of our weakness successful nan spaces that we request to get amended because we hadn’t mislaid until we went retired there. Sometimes, you tin triumph and deliberation that your bad habits work.”
Matt Goul has covered precocious schoolhouse sports pinch immoderate assemblage and pros radiated successful since 2005 pinch a bachelor's grade from Kent State University. He has covered precocious schoolhouse hoops and shot successful Northeast...
