Gross Overtime Buzzer-Beater Lifts Louisville Past #1 St. Ignatius – Boys Basketball
#3 Louisville 67, #1 St. Ignatius 65, OT
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The Division III #3 ranked Louisville Leopards won on a buzzer-beater in overtime against the visiting Division I #1 ranked St. Ignatius Wildcats 67-65. With their third straight victory, Louisville improves to 16-5 on the season.
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Gross Delivers Game-Winner After Long Possession
Each team scored on its first two possessions in overtime, evening the game at 65-65. Excellent defense by Devin Bailey forced a missed layup attempt and Ashton Marshall secured the rebound to give the Leopards the ball back with 1:45 remaining.
St. Ignatius never regained possession as Louisville held the ball until the final buzzer. The Leopards managed to milk 40 seconds off the clock before Head Coach Tom Siegfried called timeout with 1:05 left. The Leopards ran another 20 seconds off the clock before a foul near the baseline stopped the action.
Louisville was in the bonus, but Bailey couldn’t convert either free throw attempt to go in front. The second shot attempt ricochet off the rim to the right toward the student section. Wildcat 6’10 forward Damon Friery nearly secured the rebound, but stepped out of bounds right in front of the student section. The referee initially signaled St. Ignatius’ possession, but after a quick discussion among officials, the call was reversed, giving the Leopards possession.
On the ensuing play, Tate Aljancic was left open for a three-point attempt on the right wing. His shot attempt was long and banged off the opposite side of the rim. Several players went up for the rebound, but the ball bounced to the floor in the heavily congested key.. Marshall was able to secure another clutch overtime rebound for Louisville.
After another timeout, the Leopards were able to erase all of the remaining 31.3 seconds left, holding for the final shot. The final play broke down, but Marshall found Brayden Gross on the right elbow. He took one dribble on the edge of the lane, absorbed contact in the paint, and, while falling backward, lofted a one-handed shot that hit its’ mark just before the buzzer.
Gross, Coach Siegfried, and his teammates were all ecstatic as a wave of students stormed the court in celebration. Louisville had knocked off the number one team in Ohio (in all divisions).
Gross and Siegfried Score Team-High 19
Gross and Beau Siegfried were both honored before the game for milestones achieved in their game at Northwest this past Tuesday. Gross reached 1,000 career points and Siegfried broke the 29-year-old school career assists record.
It was only fitting that both Gross and Siegfried led the Leopards in scoring with 19 points each. Both players scored 11 of their 19 points after halftime.
Ashton Marshall also hit a clutch three-pointer in the fourth quarter and broke double figures with 11. Tate Aljancic also scored 9, Bailey added 4, Avery Andrejcik made a first quarter three-pointer, and Kolton Loy added a basket to round out the Louisville scoring.
Siegfried Delivers in the Clutch
The Leopards led for most of the night after outscoring the Wildcats 19-10 in the second quarter to take a double-digit 32-21 lead into the half. Gross’ buzzer-beater three-pointer, with defenders draped all over him, punctuated Louisville’s dominant first half. But St. Ignatius chipped away at the deficit, and suddenly the Leopards found themselves trailing after Quinn Woidke scored while being fouled. He converted the extra shot from the line to put the Wildcats in front 60-58 with 1:23 remaining.
Siegfried answered on the other end by pulling up to the right of the lane and hitting a short jumper. The ball hit off the back of the rim, the backboard, the rim again, and finally fell through, tying the game at 60-60 with just over a minute left.
St. Ignatius played for the final shot and Siegfried was there to contest it. He succeeded as the ball hit off the side of the rim and Gross grabbed the rebound as the buzzer sounded.
The Wildcats won the tip in overtime and Woidke buried a deep three-pointer just 13 seconds in. Once again, Siegfried answered back. Without hesitation he followed suit, draining a three-pointer from the left wing to knot the game up at 63-63.
Kalli Johnson scored on a putback to give the Wildcats a 65-63 lead.. Not long after, Siegfried was circling around the offensive end again finding space through the heart of the St. Ignatius defense. His underhand layup floated perfectly through the basket to tie the game up at 65-65 and setup for an unforgettable finish.
Woidke Scores Game-High 24
Woidke scored 17 of his game-high 24 points after halftime to lead the Wildcats. Friery also finished in double figures with 16, as did Johnson who tacked on 15. Rounding out the scoring for St. Ignatius were RJ Jones with 5, Sami Dari with 3, and Jimmy Thomas with 2.
The top-ranked Wildcats entered the night riding an eight-game winning streak but left with a 17-4 record.
Louisville Vs. St. Ignatius Series
Louisville is now 2-3 against Cleveland St. Ignatius all-time, which includes a 1-1 record at home. The Wildcats defeated the Leopards 60-55 in 2019 in the only other matchup between the two teams played at Louisville.
The Leopards’ only other win against St. Ignatius came in their first meeting in the 2015 Mount Union Christmas Tournament. Louisville clawed back from a 16-point third quarter deficit to stun the Wildcats on a Jake Adams’ buzzer-beater. As fate would have it, the final score of that game was also 67-65.
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UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Cleveland John Hay Hornets for Senior Night on Saturday, February 15. JV will begin at 5:30 PM, Senior Night ceremony will begin around 6:30 PM, and Varsity will conclude the night with an approximate 7:00 PM start.
Cover Photo By Rick Everhart Photography
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Louisville at St. Ignatius Boys Varsity Statistics
LEOPARDS 67, WILDCATS 65
Team 1-2-3-4-OT–TOTAL
St. Ignatius 11-10-20-19-5–65
Louisville 13-19-12-16-7–67
St. Ignatius Wildcats Boys Varsity Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Quinn Woidke | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 24 |
| Damon Friery | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 16 |
| Kalli Johnson | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| RJ Jones | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Sami Dari | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Jimmy Thomas | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 19 | 5 | 24 | 12 | 15 | 65 |
Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Brayden Gross | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 19 |
| Beau Siegfried | 6 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| Ashton Marshall | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Tate Aljancic | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Devin Bailey | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Avery Andrejcik | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kolton Loy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 19 | 6 | 25 | 11 | 22 | 67 |
Fouls: 19-12 St. Ignatius
Records: Louisville 16-5, St. Ignatius 17-4
JV: Louisville 60, St. Ignatius 51
JV Statistics
LEOPARDS 60, WILDCATS 51
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
St. Ignatius 9-18-13-11–51
Louisville 16-13-18-13–60
St. Ignatius Wildcats Boys JV Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Denahi Melton | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Jake Lamirand | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Carlos Vaughn Jr. | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Bryant Duffy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Anthony Anghilante | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ronan Gauntner | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Braelyn Gardner | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Trey Haddad | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Andrew Davalla | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 9 | 9 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 51 |
Louisville Leopards Boys JV Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Cody Zahler | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Cohen Rogers | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Drake Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| Colton Dougherty | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Brandon Sanders | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Caleb Mayle | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Gabe Stoffer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 19 | 5 | 24 | 7 | 10 | 60 |
Fouls: 11-7 St. Ignatius
Records: Louisville 14-2
