Leopards Halted by SVSM Buzzsaw, Finish Regional Runner-Ups – Boys Basketball
#1 St. Vincent-St. Mary 61, #2 Louisville 21
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The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team fell to the top ranked St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish 61-21 Saturday Afternoon in the DII Canton Regional Championship game held at Canton Memorial Civic Center. With the result, Louisville concludes its longest season in team history with a final record of 20-7 and finishes as a Regional Runner-Up for the first time in program history.
Aljancic Scores 7, Nigro 6 for Leopards
Junior guard Will Aljancic scored a team high 7 points including a three-pointer to lead the Leopards. Sophomore guard Hayden Nigro also finished with 6 and junior guard Charlie Roberts also made a three-pointer.
Irish Build 19-3 Lead and Don’t Look Back
St. Vincent-St. Mary never trailed in scoring the first nine points of the contest before jumping out to a 19-3 first quarter advantage. The Irish led 25-8 at the end of the first, 39-14 by halftime, and 53-20 at the end of the third.
St. Vincent-St. Mary would eventually claim a 35-point lead in the second half to invoke the mercy rule and continuous clock which sped the game to a finish. As a result, the Irish outscored the Leopards 8-1 in a quicker than usual fourth quarter.
“St. Vincent-St. Mary is a really good team. They do a lot of things right, Coach Joyce and that staff they really really prepare their kids well defensively, very fundamental, and they shot the ball really well tonight. We ran into a buzzsaw tonight there’s no question about that.”
– Louisville Head Coach Tom Siegfried
Harris Scores Game High 21 to Lead SVSM
St. Vincent-St. Mary (23-4) was led by senior guard Sencire Harris who poured in a game high 21 points. Senior guard Ramar Pryor hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with 14, and senior guard Ethan Connery added 9.
This was the first ever meeting between Louisville and St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The Fighting Irish have now won 6 consecutive regional titles and 18 regional championships in program history. They will also be venturing to the state tournament for the 8th time in 9 seasons (not counting 2020 which was cancelled due to COVID). They will challenge #2 ranked Kettering Alter in the DII state semifinals held at the University of Dayton on Friday at 5:15 PM.
The End of a Great Journey
“Great journey. Couldn’t be more proud of my kids. I told them if we won tonight or the outcome that we had, it doesn’t change how I feel about them…I’m just really proud of our program”
– Head Coach Tom Siegfried
This is the furthest the Leopards have ever advanced in the postseason. Louisville is now 59-89 all-time and in tournament play dating back to 1932. The Leopards now hold a winning 31-29 postseason record when competing in Division II.
Louisville head coach Tom Siegfried reflects on an incredible journey by the Leopards to get to the regional final.
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Louisville Vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary
Basketball Stats
FIGHTING IRISH 61, LEOPARDS 21
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 8-6-6-1–21
SVSM 25-14-14-8–61
LEOPARDS: Aljancic 2 2-2 7, Nigro 2 2-6 6, Roberts 1 0-0 3, Lingenhoel 1 0-0 2, Siegfried 1 0-0 2, Loy 0 1-2 1, Gross 0 0-1 0. TOTAL 7 5-11 21.
3-Pointers (2): Aljancic, Roberts
Team FT: 5-11 45%
FIGHTING IRISH: Harris 9 2-2 21, Pryor 6 0-0 14, Connery 3 2-2 9, Hamilton 2 0-0 5. Sharpe 2 0-0 5, Thomas III 2 0-0 5, Stratford 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 24 7-8 61.
3-Pointers (6): Pryor 2, Connery, Hamilton, Harris, Thomas III
Team FT: 7-8 88%
Fouls: 12-10 St. Vincent-St. Mary
Records: Louisville 20-7
