The following is from a team parent.
Making up for some games cancelled over the blizzard weekend last week, local CYO teams traveled and kept the lights on all weekend in the gym at Saint Joseph’s church with games from Friday night through Sunday evening.
The St. Joseph’s third grade boys team moved to within one game of a perfect regular season on Sunday, defeating St. Agnes in Clark by a score of 15-6. The Celtics stormed out to an early lead as Kieran Dawkins sank a 12 footer and converted a fast break layup in the first minutes of action. The lead grew to 7 points on a beautiful offensive rebound and putback by Steven Copeland and a foul shot by Jerry Browne following a steal and a fast break opportunity.
However, St. Agnes scored the next 6 points, cutting the Celtics lead to 1 heading to the 4th quarter. With their undefeated record on the line, the Celtics rose to the occasion as Thomas Campbell found Kieran Dawkins for a basket on an inbounds play and Dawkins sank a jumper in the lane to extend the lead to 5 points. Harrison Zabik’s gorgeous running bank shot and Jerry Browne’s baseline jumper completed the game-ending 8-0 run for the Celtics. Alex Szczepanski, Thomas Campbell and Flynn Larson took turns at point guard, distributing the ball nicely and Will Walsh and Justin Connell controlled the paint and corralled 5 rebounds between them. Riley Donohue added 2 steals as the Celtics gained their 11th win against no defeats.
The Pee Wee Red 4th grade boys returned to the hardwood on Saturday for the first game of a weekend double header with a 10 to 9 victory over St. Helen’s / Mitchell. The team came out strong and ended the first quarter up 8 to 5. Henry Aaron scored four in the quarter, two of which were from the foul line. Will Spreeman and John Pirone each contributed a bucket. Pirone added another shot in the second quarter and the team went into half time up 10 to 5. A tough St. Helen’s defense held the team scoreless for the rest of the game but it was enough to hold on for the win. Pirone had a team-high 9 nine rebounds, with Liam Haley and Declan Cavanaugh each contributing four. Ian Webber and Lukas Alexander showed some great ball handling skills at point and along with Aaron Budd and Justin DeVomecourt played great defense.
On Sunday, the team battled a tough St. Joseph/Roselle team and won 25-17. The teams played each other tough through the first three quarters, but St. Joe’s/Maplewood was on fire in the fourth quarter and scored 16 points. John Pirone and Henry Aaron led the team with 9 points each, Lukas Alexander had 4, Declan Cavanaugh contributed a basket and Will Spreeman swished in a foul shot. The entire team was strong under the boards at both ends, Pirone leading the effort with a monster 19 rebounds. Spreeman, Cian O’Connor and Liam Haley each had four. Ian Webber showed great teamwork with fabulous defense and had six assists. Justin DeVomecourt, Haley and Cavanaugh were tireless on defense and each had 3 steals. Lukas Alexander and Aaron Budd played strong at each end of the court, were relentless on defense and caused multiple turnovers.
The 5th Grade Green Celtics team suffered a rare setback to a surging St. Helen’s team on Saturday. The defeat dropped the Celtics into a tie for second place in their league with a record of 6 wins and 2 defeats. William Walsman scored 3 points for the Celtics and Patrick Campbell added 3 points along with 2 assists. Owen Holt scored on a well-executed set play early in the game for the Celtics. Liam Laskowki added 2 points and so did Nicholas Alexander. Nicholas Franklin harassed the opponent forcing 5 turnovers and Max Larson, Danny Guarnieri and Miles Drayton did their best to match up inside against the taller opponents, tallying 11 rebounds combined.
The 7th grade boys used their weekend games to move their record to 9 wins and 1 loss. On Friday evening, the 7th grade Celtics took on a strong Holy Trinity Westfield team and suffered their first lost of the season; losing a close game 40-37. The Celtics were back in action on Saturday against St. Helen’s Westfield and tallied a victory by a score of 34-22. Derrick Baptiste roared through the fourth quarter, leading the Celtics with a ten point scoring spurt. The Celtics wound down the weekend with another game at home against St. Helen’s Westfield on Sunday evening. At the half, St. Helen’s led the game 19-14. But, the Celtics applied an aggressive press throughout the second half, outscoring St. Helen’s 29-7. The final score was Saint Joseph 43, St. Helen’s 26.
