MANSFIELD, Ohio — St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick tried to maintain his composure outside the visitor’s locker room at Shelby High School, but it was an exercise in futility.
The Spartans sleep-walked through the second half of an ugly, 65-47 loss to the Whippets on Jan. 23 and Jakubick was fuming.
“We didn’t show up in the second half,” Jakubick said. “We had some open shots that we normally make and we missed too many layups in the fourth quarter. You’re not going to win too many games playing like that. Hopefully this is a wake-up call.”
As his postgame review came to a close, Jakubick took a big-picture view of the loss — one of just three during the regular season for the Spartans and far and away the most lopsided.
“There is a reason we put our schedule together the way we do,” he said. “Playing against teams like Shelby and Madison and Ontario prepare us for the postseason.”
Those games — the Spartans were 1-2 against their Richland County rivals — paid off last week. St. Peter’s overcame a fourth-quarter deficit in a 57-52 win over Sandusky St. Mary in the Division IV district championship game at Willard High School, punching its ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004.
The Spartans (23-3) will take on McComb (14-10) in the nightcap of a regional semifinal doubleheader at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Bowling Green State University’s Stroh Center. Division IV poll champ Van Wert Lincolnview (24-1) meets No. 3 Fayette (24-1) in the opener.
The Spartans’ resume may not be quite as impressive as Lincolnview or Fayette, but St. Peter’s is battle tested. Seven of its regular-season games were against higher-division opponents — the Spartans were 4-3 in those contests.
Against Division IV competition, St. Peter’s was 14-0 in the regular season. In four postseason victories, the Spartans have outscored their opponents by a combined 296-193.
St. Peter’s has won 11 straight games. It’s last loss was on that cold January night at Shelby, which snapped a 10-game winning streak.
“We have been playing well recently,” senior forward Ryan Payne said after last week’s district semifinal win over Wynford. “We have done a good job of sharing the ball and playing unselfishly.”
McComb, meanwhile, staggered into the postseason before catching fire the past two weeks. The Panthers won eight of their first nine games before an overtime loss to Fort Jennings on Jan. 16 sent the team into a tailspin. McComb was 3-9 during the second half of the season but upset top-seeded New Riegel 59-47 in the district championship game.
“We talked about how everything that happened in the regular season is over and it’s a new season now,” McComb senior Noah Kasmarek told the Findlay Courier after scoring 20 points in the district final.
McComb finished a pedestrian seventh in the 12-team Blanchard Valley Conference standings. Of the four teams in action at this week’s regional the Panthers had the easiest go of it in the district finals. McComb’s 12-point margin of victory in the district title game was more than St. Peter’s, Lincolnview and Fayette combined.
The Panthers boast a senior-dominant roster. Several of McComb’s regulars were members of the regional championship football team.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” McComb coach Nick Latta told the Courier. “Our seniors and underclassmen stepped up.”
