Freshmen star as St. Ignatius beating the Bruce-Mahoney game

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If the student section of St. Ignatius chanted “he’s a freshman” every time one of Caden Hutcherson, Steel LaBag or Raymond Wheatley scored a goal, they would never stop.

The trio together scored 47 of the Wildcats’ 78 points in a 78-58 Bruce-Mahoney game, defeating Sacred Heart Cathedral in front of 3,000 fans at the USF War Memorial Hall Tuesday night.

“Once they settled in, they were pushed by the energy,” said head coach Jason Greenfield. “They made big shots after big shots.”

The crowd, which would shock most freshmen, just fueled their confidence through the night. St. Ignatius (8-5, 2-1 Western Catholic Athletic League) led 36-30 at halftime, then went on a 16-0 streak to take a 52-32 lead, with 13 of those points going to freshmen. The Fighting Irish responded with a 7-0 run of their own to get back within 13 at Fed Purnell and -1, but Marcus Bast converted a 3-pointer from one of Whitley’s five passes to send the Wildcats into fourth place. up to 57-41.

“When me, Cayden and Steele talked about coming (to St. Ignatius), it was on our schedule,” said Whitley, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. “We like this kind of environment.”

Wheatley then scored the first six SI points in the fourth quarter and then made a bizarre pass to Theo Lamb, who had been playing with Pepperdine for much of the last period. John Squire is recovering from an ankle injury. Hutcherson then hit eight of his 17, and back-to-back three-pointers extended the lead to 73–49. Before the second of these, Hutcherson attempted to dunk with one hand but missed, but Bast intercepted the rebound and fed him three more.

“They’re pretty talented and will get even better once they start listening,” Greenfield joked.

Even when the Wildcats ignored Greenfield’s advice, they played it right. When Greenfield urged his team to slow down in the final minutes, Labag hit a three-pointer at the start of the shot clock. Naturally, it came in.

“The players are playing. We’re trying to give them a chance to succeed, but the players are playing,” Greenfield said.

The win gives SI a 2-1 lead in the annual Bruce-Mahoney Series. The Wildcats will have the opportunity to keep the trophy if their women’s team can defeat Fightin’ Irish on January 25 when schools return to USF.

The War Memorial Gym is a familiar spot for Greenfield, who served as USF’s director of analytics for the 2019-20 season. Several current and former dons were in attendance Tuesday night, including Jamari Buyea, who is in Northern California this week with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

“I was on the wrong (away) side of the bench, but it’s phenomenal,” Greenfield said of playing in USF. “I love this establishment. It’s such a cozy, beautiful, fun place to play. I hope we’re here for many years to come.”

Until Tuesday evening, USF had not hosted a Bruce-Mahony basketball game since 2018. The previous four were played at the Haas Pavilion, Cow Palace, St. Ignatius (during the COVID season, only parents were present) and Kezar Pavilion.

While the three freshmen are poised for more Bruce-Mahoney memories, Tuesday was the last Bruce-Mahoney game for Squire, the three-year-old freshman. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds despite missing the final quarter.

“There is no environment like this,” Squire said.

His loss gave the Wildcats a 42–32 lead, and after Sacred Heart Cathedral (7–5, 1–1) missed on the other end, the Wildcats got four straight offensive rebounds before Squire was fouled.

“We’ve stopped rebounding and once you give a team two or three chances to score a basket, they’ll take advantage of that,” SHC head coach Caesar Smith said.

Squire Whitley’s help started a fatal 16–0 streak, with Hutcherson following with a loss. Labag’s two free throws with 3:52 left in the third made the score 45-32, and after the Irishman threw the ball out of bounds, Smith called a time-out.

It did little to stop the momentum. Hutcherson hit a 3-pointer after the break and the SHC turned it over two more times, providing layups for Whitley and Hutcherson.

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Hutcherson finished with 17 points and seven rebounds despite only scoring two goals in the first half.

“Things didn’t go the way I wanted in the first and second quarter and I had a bit of bad body language, but my teammates were there to support me and I was able to recover,” he said. “I was thinking about the team and not about myself, so that definitely cheered me up.”

While Hutcherson had a quiet first half, LaBag and Squire got off to a strong start. Squire’s and-1 started the series 10-0 giving SI a 16-12 lead plus five points and a block from Labag. Jerry Mixon Jr.’s No. 1 cut the lead to 18-17, but Lamb hit a 3-pointer to close out the quarter.

SI extended the lead to 30-23 thanks to a shot from Elshon Chang, but the Irishman got close to Zemory Erfe’s two free throws with 2:03 left in the quarter. The Wildcats scored the next six to go up 36–28, but Fed’s Purnell, who raised the buzzer, sent SHC to the locker room for only six down.

Mixon led the SHC with 15 points, helped by his perfect 7-of-7 lane play. Purnell scored 14 points and R.L. Miller added nine.

LaBag, son of CCSF head coach Justin LaBag, himself a St. Ignatius graduate, had 12 points and six rebounds. Lamb had seven points off the bench, while Bast had six points, five assists and four rebounds.

Rating discrepancy

Confusion arose in the first half due to Zemori Erfe’s shot, which was listed on the official scoresheet as a three-pointer. A video from BAOSN.tv showed that Erfe’s shot two minutes into the game was hit from behind the 3-point line, but was marked as a 3 in the official book. Ultimately, this shot did not affect the outcome of the game. Erfe finished with six points.

Next

St. Ignatius receives St. Francis (8-4, 1-2) on Friday evening, while Sacred Heart Cathedral departs for Mitti (11-2, 3-0). The Monarchs beat the Lancers in Mountain View on Tuesday night, 68–60.

Fightin’ Irish and Wildcats will meet again at St. Ignatius January 31st.

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