The St. Mary’s 4th grade team 4 extended their winning streak to three when they defeated St. Peter’s this week. The team was down by three at half and stormed back with a very strong second half to earn the win.
The team was led by Blake Gately, who scored 12 points, followed by Theo Zacharia with eight, Conor Gately with six, Ryan Tintle with five, Patrick Sweeney with four and PJ Flood with two. The team also got big contributions from Colin Pasquale, Conor Butle, and David Geismar.
St. Mary’s 5th grade team 7 was back in action this weekend with an away game at St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa. St. Rose had a talented team and was in second place in the league behind the undefeated boys from St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s started the game well by applying an aggressive man-to-man defense led by Tommy Tsongas and Alex Cozzi. On the offensive end, Michael Lasalle and Matt Perfetto provided crisp ball movement and Brendan Trotta and Chris Diskin aggressively attacked the basket. The strong team effort resulted in a six-point halftime lead for St. Mary’s. St. Rose would not go quietly and came out in the second half by constantly switching defenses and took a one-point lead late in the third quarter. However, St. Mary’s would not be denied and responded with strong rebounding and aggressive defense led by Dillon Magee and Hunter Panzik. Joey Terenzi and Peter Vorillas controlled the tempo with pressure on St. Rose’s ball handlers and crisp ball movement on the offensive end. In the end, St. Mary’s tenacious effort in the 4th quarter was too much for St. Rose, resulting in an impressive 32-20 victory
James Allen scored four points in overtime for St. Mary’s grade 6 team 3 to seal a 30-29 win over St. Thomas, West Hempstead. Mike Desena and Dan Cataldo played tough defense and dominated the boards. Alec Turkmen led the scoring with nine points. Alex Giacobbe, Aiden Cole, Cataldo and Desena also scored.
Charlie Young’s 21 points propelled St. Mary’s 8th grade team 7 to a 57-53 victory over St. Agnes- 7 RVC. On a two-pointer from Steven Salerno, the Gaels locked down their lead in the third quarter. St. Mary’s came back with a vengeance in the final two quarters, after trailing 34-25 at the half. With 18 points in the third quarter, the Gaels cemented their lead. Young was the front runner for Gael’s offense with 21 points, including 11 during the second period. He also contributed eight rebounds. Two other players also scored in the double digits for the Gaels. Timmy Kiggins had 14 points and Chris Themelis racked up 10 points. Also helping the effort for the Gaels were Duncan Barcelona (four points), Salerno (three points, one rebound), Edward Arnold (two points) and Joe Locurto (two points, six rebounds). Steven Vlahakis, Louis Perfetto, Noah Semple and Patrick Weber picked up key rebounds and defensive stops in the comeback.
St. Mary’s 8th grade team 7 fell to Long Beach Catholic CYO, 51-43, even with Noah Semple scoring 10 points. Long Beach Catholic grabbed the lead against the Gaels in the second period and held on. Even though the Gaels added 12 points in the final quarter, it wasn’t enough to overcome their opponent. In an aggressive showing, the Gaels racked up 24 fouls in total. Semple connected with the net the most during the third period, earning six points for the Gaels. Also chipping in for the Gaels were Timmy Kiggins (six points, two rebounds), Duncan Barcelona (five points, two rebounds), Edward Arnold (five points, one rebound), Charlie Young (four points, nine rebounds), Joe Locurto (four points, five rebounds), Chris Themelis (three points, four rebounds), Louis Perfetto (three points) and Patrick Weber (three points, one rebound, one steal).
