SI, SHC ready for rivalry games at USF
The St. Ignatius boys basketball team went to St. Francis on Saturday night with a score to settle — and a couple of long win streaks to bust.
Even with the extra motivation, head coach Rob Marcaletti had to warn his team not to look ahead. Tuesday’s Bruce-Mahoney game with Sacred Heart Cathedral at USF is that big.
“Everyone in the community talks about that game for weeks,” Marcaletti said. “All the tickets are sold out. The place is jammed. It’s an incredible event. Keeping the kids focused and not looking ahead was a major challenge.” Mission accomplished. The Wildcats, starting two sophomores and three juniors, got 25 points from 5-foot-9 junior guard Darrion Trammell, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to stun then-seventh-ranked St. Francis 77-72.
The victory vaulted St. Ignatius (10-1, 2-0 in West Catholic Athletic League) from No. 16 to No. 8 in this week’s Chronicle top 20 rankings. It also snapped 16-game home and 18-game overall WCAL win streaks for the Lancers (10-2, 1-1), who beat St. Ignatius 83-56 at home last season.
“I definitely think we had something to prove, plus we’re still trying to establish our new identity,” said Marcaletti, a longtime assistant in his second year as head coach. “I think we accomplished a little of both. But we have to play better defense.”
The team’s new identity is built around speed and guard play after last season’s 17-11 squad was centered on allleague 6-9 post Will Emery, who is now at Dartmouth.
Junior guards Brandon Beckman and Matthew Redmond added 19 and 13 points, respectively, for St. Ignatius.
Jaedon Roberts, a 6-4, 250-pound sophomore, and Teddy Snyder, a 6-5, 200pound junior, collected seven rebounds apiece and did much of the dirty work.
“I’ve been impressed with our overall maturity and confidence in the early going,” Marcaletti said. “The kids have worked really hard in the weight room with our conditioning coach, John Murray. We tell the guys all the time that 5 pounds of muscle equals 20 pounds of confidence.”
A season-opening 93-57 win at Verbum Dei-Los Angeles helped with the confidence, as did December wins over outof-area teams Golden Valle-ySanta Clarita (76-65), Kinkaid-Houston (66-41) and Mercer Island-Washington (54-45).
Include routs of Metro teams Marin Catholic-Kentfield (77-50) and Burlingame (72-30) and Marcaletti’s uptempo style is definitely working.
“We have so much to work on, but so far so good,” Marcaletti said.
That work starts 8 p.m. Tuesday against an improving SHC (6-5, 0-2) under new coach Sean MacKay.
The Irish are led by 6-6 fourth-year starter Ramzi Carter, 6-3 junior guard Nathan Robinson and 5-9 senior point guard Romello Dunbar.
SHC lost its WCAL opener last week to No. 4 Bellarmine (63-48) and then fell at No. 15 Serra (58-39), but with the return of Dunbar from injury, the Irish are getting better.
With a win, St. Ignatius would retain the Bruce-Mahoney trophy for a fourth consecutive year. If SHC wins, the trophy — given in honor of World War II veterans Bill Bruce (1935 St. Ignatius graduate) and Jerry Mahoney (1944 Sacred Heart graduate) — will be awarded to the winner of the March 18 baseball game between the schools.
Girls game: Defending Division III state champion Sacred Heart Cathedral (6-5) hopes to end a three-game losing streak to ninth-ranked St. Ignatius (12-1) in the 6 p.m. game at USF.
The No. 8 Irish’s losses were to nationally ranked Clovis West-Fresno (75-55), NorCal powerhouse St. Mary’s-Stockton (twice, 69-63 and 93-75) and third-ranked Metro team Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (twice, 67-55 and 68-58).
St. Ignatius hasn’t played nearly the schedule of the Irish, but has looked strong behind Cal Poly signee Ayzhiana Basallo (13.7 points per game) and Maggie Burke (11.3). The Wildcats will need to slow down Cincinnati-signee IImar’I Thomas , a 6-1 forward who averages 23.2 points and 13.7 rebounds per game.
“She’s a player that keeps opposing players awake at night,” St. Ignatius coach Mike Mulkerrins said. “She’s extremely tough to defend and game plan for. She’s so talented. We just hope to keep her under her averages.”