The Church of St. Mary CYO Boys basketball program kicked off week two of the season.
After a grueling opening weekend, St. Mary’s 5th grade (Cozzi/Perfetto) ran their record to 3-0 against a tough opponent in St. Peter’s, Port Washington.
The boys started the game frenetically with a smothering man to man defense led by Matt Perfetto, Alex Cozzi and Hunter Panzik. This effort enabled St. Mary’s to jump out to an early lead.
St. Peter’s responded with a half-court press, but tremendous ball movement led by Michael Lasalle, Joey Terenzi and Brendan Trotta increased St. Mary’s lead to double digits at the end of the first half.
St. Peter’s was determined to not go away quietly and started the second half with a big run which cut St. Mary’s lead to nine points. Dillon Magee, Peter Vorillas, Tommy Tsongas and Chris Diskin weathered the storm and settled down with strong rebounding and good ball movement on offense. St. Mary’s continued to work hard in the second half and emerged victorious with a final score of 35-17.
The 4th grade team (Noone/Petersen) played to a win against St. Boniface, Sea Cliff. This was the team’s first away game and the boys were extraordinary. The entire team played great defense, had many fantastic passes. Team members are Patrick Albanese, Gabriel Alcaraz, Aidan Haggerty, Tommy Higgins, Brian Noone, Jack Petersen, Alexander Robson, Grant Valentine, Matthew Varela and Theo Vorillas. It was a great team effort and fun was had by all.
St Mary’s 8th grade (Saville/Quinn) beat Holy Spirit, 64-36. The offense was led by John Mastando, who scored 28 points, Jay Schlaefer (13 points) and Thomas Santella and Thomas Blaney, who each scored six points. St. Mary’s defense forced numerous turnovers and dominated the boards, with major contributions from Nick Quinn, Will Allen, Jack Saville, Chris Carillo, John Whelan and Alex Racanelli. The team awaits the return of Ross Tortora, who was injured in a previous victory over St. Peter’s.
St. Mary’s 8th grade team 7 began their title defense with a 48-33 win over Holy Family, Hicksville. Led by Noah Semple (12 points/8 rebounds) and Steven Vlahakis (7/4) and outstanding defense by Eddie Arnold and Joseph Mulholland (2 pts., 2 steals), the defending champions battled through a tough first quarter before pulling away. Duncan Barcelona (3 pts), Patrick Weber (3 pts., 2 steals), Timmy Kiggins (7), Steven Salerno (5), Joe Locurto (6) and Charlie Young (4). With defensive stalwart Louis Perfetto and sharpshooter Chris Themelis on the DL, the team aims to play tough until their return.
St. Mary’s 8th grade (Hannan) squeaked by a stout St. Gertrude’s, Bayville team, 36-33. It was a defensive struggle throughout. Julian Brown and Matt Cozzi paced the scoring and Andrew Pogue drained a crucial 3 pointer down the stretch.
4th Grade (Byrne/Pidherny) bested St Aidan, Williston Park. St Mary’s played disciplined defense and moved the ball well on offense. The players did a skillful job distributing the ball and overall it was a team effort on offense. It was a very competitive game and after taking an early 10-point lead St Mary’s held on.
St. Mary’s 8th Grade (Chellaram) started the season strongly with two victories on their double header this past weekend. In their season opener at home the team beat St. Boniface, 36-26. Leading them to victory was Leo Tsartsalis (10 pts, 6 rebounds), Stelio Katopodius (6 pts, 5 assists), Kyle Grant (6 pts, 3 assists), Dino Chellaram (9 assists, 5 steals), Nico Miradoli (4 pts), and Demetri Mc Nulty (4 pts).
In their second game, the team beat St. Ann, 45-26. It was an all-round effort from the all the players, with additional contribution from Luca Parisi (4 pts),Ryan Muni (5 pts, 8 rebounds), Michael Polis (4 pts), Adam Stefan(4 pts, 3 rebounds). The unselfish play from Dino Chellaram (14 assists, 5 steals) and excellent defensive effort by Bryce Thalhemier, Matt Abrankin and Dan Desantis allowed the team to pull away in the second half.
