St. John's Wins BigDecember 1, 2012 At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on St. John's of Winthrop White. The game was never close as St. John's pulled away early for the win.Faye Parker scored the first 12 points of the game and dished to Kayla Kornitsky to make it a 14-point run to start the game. Winthrop finally broke the run with a basket at the 11 minute mark but they could not match up with Swampscott as they pulled away. Parker had 12 points and 14 first half rebounds and Olivia Matela tossed in 10 points as Swampscott held a commanding halftime lead.…

Defense Sparks St. John's VictoryJune 26, 2012 At Saugus High School, St. John's took on Saugus in a rematch of their season opener. It was defense that sparked the win this time as St. John's held Saugus to just 12 first half points and left nothing in doubt as they rolled to a 50-37 win.Travis Thurman got things going with a 3-pointer to open the game. But Saugus went on a 5-1 run to retake the lead. Bailey Kennedy would take the lead back with a basket off an offensive rebound with 11:23 left. After a made Saugus free throw, St. John's went on a 7 point run led by back to back baskets by …

  For the last 4 seasons, at least one team from St. John’s has made the State Tournament. In 3 of those 4 years, a team made it to the Final Four. That alone is quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately for St. John’s, once again the season ended without making it to the Championship Game. At Milton High School, St. John’s took on the undefeated St. Rafael of Medford team.  After a made Medford free throw, Chris Murphy scored on an offensive put back for an early lead.  Donnie Weisse followed with a driving basket to keep St. John’s ahead by two at the 11:18 mark. St. Rafael would even the …

  March 4, 2012 — At Milton High School, St. John's took on St. Joseph of Medford in the  quarterfinals of the State Tournament. They opened up a big halftime lead and then held on for the victory and a spot in the Final Four.It took just 33 seconds for St. John's to take control with a Matt Hubauer jumper. Before St. Joseph knew what had hit them, Swampscott went on a  12-point run led by 3-pointers by Nick Scibelli and Gavin Sullivan to take a 16-2 lead with 6:53 left in the half. After a brief Medford spurt, Stevie DiLisio canned another 3-pointer on a feed from Donnie Weisse to make it 22…

  Feb. 25, 2012 — At the Belmont Hill School, St. John's took on St. Pius of Lynn in the semi-finals of the North Shore Playoffs in a rematch of their win two weeks earlier. Unfortunately for St. John's the result was not the same as St. Pius knocked them out with a comeback 37-32 win.St. Pius scored first but Matt Hubauer matched them with an offensive put back to keep the game even. Just 47 seconds into the game, Nick Scibelli hit a 3-pointer to give St. John's the lead. After St. Pius retook the lead, back-to-back baskets by Hubauer made it 9-6 in favor of Swampscott with 11:47 left in the…

February 17, 2012 — At the Marblehead Community Center, the Girls Bantams took on IC Salem/Marblehead. St. John's had an early lead but a late first half surge by Immaculate Conception put the game away as St. John's fell 41-26.Things looked good early on as baskets by Faye Parker, Molly Marocco, and Fiona Herring gave St. John's an early 6-0 lead. But IC's bench took over by scoring 22 straight points to pull away. Molly Marocco ended the run with a basket with 3:56 left. Back to back jumpers by Mary Miles and Olivia Matela brought St. John's within 12 at the half.St. John's had a hard time …

  Feb. 12, 2012 — At Lynn's Breed Middle School, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on St. Pius of Lynn. St. John's needed the win to clinch a birth in the Massachusetts CYO State Tournament. After trailing by nine points in the second half, St. John's came roaring back and a late blocked shot by Matt Hubauer sealed the win and a State Tournament Invitation.St. Pius came out and ran off the first eight points to put St. John's in an early hole. Nick Scibelli entered the game and scored the first points at the 13:01 mark to put Swampscott on the board. A Chris Murphy put back followed by a Matt …

  Feb. 4, 2012 — At the Swampscott Middle School, the Boys Cadets took on IC Marblehead/Salem. St. John's cruised to an easy win setting up a big match-up with St. Pius next week with a state tournament birth on the line.Matt Hubauer got things started with an early basket for the lead. Stevie DiLisio followed with back-to-back hoops to make it 6-0 with less than two minutes expired on the clock. But the combined team of Salem and Marblehead went on an 12-0 run to take the lead. Chris Murphy scored off offensive rebounds on back-to-back possesions to cut the lead 14-10 with 4:48 left in the …

  Streak Continues with OT WinJanuary 28, 2012 — At the Swampscott Middle School, it was the battle of St. John's as the Girls Bantams took on St. John's of Winthrop. It was quite a battle with a blocked shot at the end of regulation sending the game to overtime. Fiona Herring's four points, a steal, and an assist in OT led Swampscott to a thrilling win.Winthrop struck first but Swampscott struck back as Mary Miles stole a pass and fed Olivia Matela to tie it up. Trailing by three, Swampscott went on an 8-0 run. Fiona Herring threw an alley-oop pass to Faye Parker to give Swampscott its first…

St. John's On a RollJanuary 22, 2012 — At the St. Joseph Parish Center in Medford, the Girls Bantams took on St. Joseph's. St. John's won for the third time in the last four games 27-21.St. John's got off to a fast start. Fiona Herring, Faye Parker, and Katie Watts each scored to give them a 6-0 lead at the 7:01 mark. St. Joseph came back to tie it up. St. John's retook the lead on two made free throws by Abby Bruhm which ignited an 8-0 Swampscott run. Mary Miles finished the half with a basket assisted by Molly Marooco for a 16-12 lead.Herring scored to extend the lead to six with 13:54 left…

  January 14, 2012 — At the Swampscott Middle School, the Boys Bantams took on league leader Sacred Heart of Lynn. Noah Carreiro powered St. John's with 15 points and 12 rebounds as they shocked Sacred Heart 34-32.After a crushing defeat in their last game. St. John's could only look forward to taking on league powerhouse Sacred Heart of Lynn. With leading scorer, Noah Carreiro, back after an illness, St. John's played with renewed confidence. Michael Capone got them started in the right direction with a jumper and the lead just over a minute into the game. Sacred Heart came right back to …

  Girls Bantams Storm to WinJan. 7, 2012 — At the Swampscott Middle School, the Girls Bantams took on St. Joseph's of Medford. Led by a tenacious defense that allowed only one first half point, they picked up their first win of the season.It took almost nine minutes before St. Joe's hit a free throw for the first point of the game. Both teams were playing tough defense. Faye Parker grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in to give St. John's the lead. A Katie Watts drive extended the lead and sent St. John's on an 11-0 run to end the half. Faye Parker had six points and twelve rebounds …

  At Lynn's Breed Middle School, the St. John's Girls Bantams lost to St. Pius in the last game of 2011. Despite the loss, St. John's showed improvement. Kayla Kornitsky had her best rebounding game of the year with a team high of 14. Fiona Herring had 4 points and 5 rebounds and Faye Parker finished with double digits in rebounds with 12. The girls play their first game of 2012 next week at home against St. Joseph's of Medord.

  Boys Bantams          Carreiro Shines In St. John's LossDecember 10, 2011 — At the Swampscott Middle School, the Boys Bantams took on St. Adelaide of Peabody. Noah Carreiro had a double/double with 10 points and 14 rebounds in the loss. Peabody scored the first four points before Noah Carreiro fed Sam Mayblyum to cut the lead in half at the 11:42 mark. But St. Adelaide countered with a 10-1 run before Carreiro scored again and St. John's trailed 14-5. Peabody would extend it's lead to double digits as the half wound down. In the closing seconds, Mayblyum dove out of bounds and saved the …

Boys Bantams Carreiro Dominates Boards in St. John's WinDecember 3, 2011 — At the Swampscott Middle School, the Boys Bantams got the win in a rematch with St. Joseph's of Medford. Noah Carreiro had 21 rebounds in the 41-30 win. Luke Marshall got St. John's off to an early lead with the opening basket. With the game tied, Jake Goldman fed Max Peganato who executed a perfect give and go back to Goldman for a 7-5 lead at the 10:34 mark of the half. Medford stormed back to take the lead at 8-7. After two made free throws by Cole Cassidy, Cassidy scored again to give Swampscott an 11-8 lead. After…

At the St. Joseph Parish Center in Medford, the St. John's Boys Bantams opened the 2011-2012 season. Swampscott trailed most of the game before a late comeback cut the lead to one. But Medford's late free throws sealed the game and St. John's fell 35-28. St. John's fell behind early as St. Joseph jumped out to a 6-0 lead. With 9:39 left in the half, Jake McIntire broke the ice for the first basket of the season. After a defensive stop, Simon Keough cut the lead to two. Both teams exchanged baskets as the half wound down. Another McIntire basket kept St. John's within two with 1:31 left. But a…

Online registration is now available for the St. John’s of Swampscott girls and boys basketball program. We are also currently seeking a girls Bantam (5th & 6th grade) basketball coach. Swampscott boys and girls in grades 5-8 may register at swampscottcyo.org by going to the online forms section. The CYO basketball program in Swampscott began in 1953, under the guidance of Dick Lynch as a grammar school intramural team program. CYO plays a 14-18 game schedule finishing with the state tournament in March. Teams include St.Adelaide’s and St. John’s of Peabody. St. Mary’s, St. Pius, and Sacred …

Well I sit here still in disbelief that the CYO basketball season has finally come to an end. A hard fought loss by the girls Bantam team in the EMASS Final Four has left me with nothing to do next weekend. But it was all worth it. A tremendous group of girls supported by great coaches and fabulous parents  has made me look back fondly on a tremendous year. It all started in late October when the reality set in that the girls director, Tom Dawley, was not walking through that door anymore. How hard could it be to add a few girls teams to the boys program, which I had been involved with for …

March 12, 2011 At Milton High School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on St. Francis of Medford in the EMASS CYO Final Four. St. John's had topped St. Francis twice this season, but it is always hard to beat a team three times in a season. St. John's went with a 3-guard line-up to start things off. Veronica Rizzo, Jaymie Caponigro, and Kendall Rhodes tried to force early turnovers. The game turned into a defensive battle. Three minutes into the game, Hannah Leahy blocked a shot to keep the game scoreless. The two teams exchanged free throws to make it a 1-1 game at the 11:25 mark. St. John'…

The St. John's Girls Bantams will take on St. Francis of Medford in the Final Four on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at Milton High School. St. Francis advanced with a win over Gate of Heaven of South Boston. St. John's defeated St. Francis twice this year. On Feb. 13th at Medford, Hannah Leahy had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 26-21 win. On Feb. 26th in the North Shore Playoffs, Eleni Laskaris had 12 points and 9 rebounds in the 36-20 victory. St. John's enters the game at 15-2 and St. Francis is 13-4.