The following is from a team parent.
The St Joseph’s 3rd Grade Boys Team won 2 home games this weekend, improving their record to 3 wins and no losses. On Saturday, the Celtics defeated St. John’s of Clark by a score of 20-4 and on Sunday they held of a valiant comeback effort from Holy Trinity to emerge with a 17-14 victory. In Saturday’s game, Five Celtics scored in a balanced effort with Flynn Larson (6), Jerry Browne and Steven Copeland (5 points each), and Luke Davenport and Thomas Campbell (2 each) all scoring. Will Walsh and Timothy Van der North corralled 4 rebounds each.
On Sunday, the Celtics used a combination of fast break opportunities and excellent ball and player movement to build an 8 point lead through 3 quarters, 17-9. Holy Trinity used aggressive defense to force several turnovers and cut the lead to 3 in the 4th quarter, but steady ball handling by Celtics guards Kieran Dawkins, Thomas Campbell and Flynn Larson helped preserve the victory. Six Celtics players scored including Larson and Luke Davenport (4 each), Dawkins (3) and baskets from Steven Copeland (on a gorgeous assist from Jerry Browne), Harrison Zabik on a drive to the hoop and Jerry Browne on an inbounds play assisted by Campbell. Alex Szczepanski grabbed 3 offensive rebounds and chipped in 2 steals for the Celtics and Justin Connell added 3 rebounds.
The JV 5 Boys Green Team improved to 3-0 with a dominating performance against St. Theresa of Kenilworth. The short-handed Celtics started the game with only 7 players and led 10-3 at halftime. Patrick Campbell and Danny Guarnieri arrived as reinforcements in the second half and a relentless full-court press powered the Celtics to a 33-12 victory. Brendan Dawkins led the way with 11 points and Max Larson erupted, contributing 8 points on an array of jump shots from the baseline. Liam Laskowski (4), Miles Drayton (4), Patrick Campbell (4) and William Walsman (2) rounded out the scoring while Owen Holt and Danny Guarnieri controlled the backboards contributing 6 and 4 rebounds, respectively.
The 6th grade boys’ quest for the perfect season came to an end this Sunday as they lost 24-13 to the high-powered St Helen’s team. Despite being down by double-digits by halftime, the boys made a valiant effort in the second half led by team high scorer Nico Reyes and defensive stalwart Nick Lorenzo. The team’s comeback effort were further helped by Buchi Amobi’s and Alex Iozzio’s defensive and offensive rebounds. Ale Lorenzo, Ryan Barrett, Kyle Hamish and Damian Cataneo made several steals and deflections to make numerous defensive stops. Meanwhile, Ryan Nnoli led the team with hustle plays. Throughout the game, the boys remained resilient and made all out efforts until the final buzzer.
The Saint Joseph Varsity 7th grade boys extended their winning record to 3-0 on Sunday with a convincing 40-18 win over St. Genevieve. Derrick Baptiste led all scorers with ten points and Colin Williams contributed eight. Aiden Wolfe and Perry Reyes each added a half dozen while Ben Szczepanski, Harry Fardin, James Griffith, Cole Latimer and Ty Budd each contributed a bucket.
The St. Joseph JV Girls basketball team continued its winning ways on Saturday, using a smothering defense and timely shooting to beat All Saints Academy of Bayonne by a score of 9-0. Leah Connell led the way with 4 points, finding gaps in the All Saints defense and knocking down two jump shots just inside the foul line while Kathleen Wack chipped in with 3 points. Wack’s lone basket came off a terrific hustle play where she sprinted the length of the court to grab a rebound off a missed shot in transition and made the layup. Dominating the backboards, St. Joseph limited All Saints to one shot, thanks to Wack and Neve McGowan who grabbed several rebounds in the 2nd-half and kept All Saints from getting open shots inside the lane. St. Joseph received valuable contributions from a number of other players. Jamie Fardin was disruptive on the defensive end of the floor, using her quickness to force a few turnovers and get a few steals. Ruby Aylward and Katie O’Mara played unselfish team basketball, by making a number of good passes to create quality shots for their teammates.
St. Joseph returned to the court on Sunday, dropping its first game of the season in a hard-fought 21-16 loss to Our Lady of Peace of New Providence. Our Lady of Peace was the aggressor early on, racing out to a 9-2 lead in the first half by knocking down 4 jump shots outside 18 feet, including one three-pointer. But St. Joseph ratcheted up the defensive pressure and forced Our Lady of Peace to take difficult shots. On the other end of the floor, Fardin and McGowan started to find some chemistry together, fueling a 6-0 run which allowed St. Joseph to cut the deficit to 11-8 at halftime. McGowan scored 4 points while Fardin had the other basket.
In the 2nd half, Our Lady of Peace had the upper hand and managed to push their lead to 9 points with outstanding perimeter shooting. But St. Joseph had one last run, cutting the lead to three at 19-16. Katie Wilkes fueled the comeback, knocking down 2 baseline jump shots while Evelyn Calabrese made a layup on an offensive rebound. Wilkes led the team in scoring with 6 points. It was too little too late as Our Lady of Peace used its quickness out on the perimeter and inside to grab a number of offensive rebounds and keep possession of the ball late in the game. With the loss, St. Joseph JV girls saw its record drop to 3-1.
The Varsity girls’ team ended their weekly practice a few minutes early and headed over to Target to spread some holiday cheer. All 14 members of the team chipped in their own money and spent the evening shopping for the Maplewood South Orange Parenting Center toy drive. The team was divided up into three groups and given a shopping budget. The girls worked together to select thoughtful gifts, believing that there is good in the world, and it starts with being the good in the world.
