CLEVELAND, Ohio – Villa Angela-St. Joseph boys basketball coach Babe Kwasniak resisted temptation to lobby for his team.
“We’ve won six state championships and one AP poll,” he said Saturday night after the Vikings’ 66-61 win against Mentor.
VASJ (11-5) is ranked No. 17 in the cleveland.com Top 25 — but highest among any Division III school in Northeast Ohio. Their matchup with No. 13 Mentor (11-5) is notable because a year ago, it served as their last loss until the state championship game against Lima Central Catholic.
The Vikings reeled off 10 straight wins last year during their run back to Columbus. About 12 games separate them from another such run, depending on how they are bracketed in the tough Division III Garfield Heights District.
That will be determined Sunday, as area coaches vote later this week online and then meet to select their spots on the brackets.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press state poll is a different story.
VASJ was only ninth last week, despite returning its point guard and standout center from last year’s run to the state finals.
Perhaps Saturday’s win against Mentor, a bigger Division I school, will give the Vikings a boost.
Maybe St. Ignatius’ 74-50 win against Cleveland Heights will help its case when a thumping of Columbus Northland didn’t help. (Northland received more state votes to receive special mention.)
In the pursuit of Columbus, votes calculated there mean nothing. But the votes cast this weekend online can have a substantial impact because they will determine where teams slot for the postseason.
Here is another look at VASJ’s case against Mentor.
And here is where Mentor stands after 16 games.
SATURDAY TAKEAWAYS
There were more notable matchups on Saturday. Multiple games pitted two cleveland.com Top 25 teams.
- Top-ranked St. Ignatius opened the season with a one-point loss to No. 8 Cleveland Heights. They met again, and the Wildcats (12-4) used a 28-11 first-quarter spurt to turn away the Tigers.
Austen Yarian slices and dices his way to the basket. Yarian has 13 points through 3 quarters #GoCats pic.twitter.com/WqXegvmMvi
— SIHS Sports (@SIHSSports) February 5, 2017
- Antonio Blanton did it again. The Elyria guard delivered a buzzer-beating 3 to hand Medina its first loss earlier this season, and his heroics on the road continued again for the 12th-ranked Pioneers (14-3) against a rival wearing green and white. This time it was closer to home against No. 22 Elyria Catholic, as Blanton’s dagger delivered a 66-63 win.
- Speaking of Medina, No. 5 Garfield Heights bounced back from a midweek loss by pulling away from the 14th-ranked Bees, 63-45. Senior guard Shawn Christian scored 21 points and Leonard Cottrell added 20.
- No. 9 Benedictine ended a two-game losing streak in a resounding way. Marlon Moore scored 13 points, while freshman Andy Barba added 11 in a 72-42 blowout of Gilmour. The Bengals (13-4) are jostling for position in the Division II Stow District, while Gilmour (11-5) will join VASJ and Elyria Catholic (11-5) in the D-III Garfield Heights District.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Both East Tech’s boys and girls teams won fourth straight Senate League crowns Friday night.
See highlights of both, from the boys’ 71-66 win behind Isaiah Washington’s 41-point performance …
… to the girls’ win against John Hay.
Also be sure to check out girls highlights from Hathaway Browns’ 54-47 win against defending state champion Wadsworth.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email (mgoul@cleveland.com). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.
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