Goldman Shocks IC Revere

Boys Bantams

Defense Leads St. John's Victory - February 2, 2013

At the Swampscott Middle School, the Boys Bantams took on St. Adelaide of Peabody. The game was never close. St. John's had 16 first half steals to take a commanding lead and rolled to the win.

Jake Goldman got things started with a steal and drive to the hoop for an early lead. It was a sign of things to come. St. Johns' full court swarming defense caused numerous turnovers. Always a good defensive team, St. John's kicked it up a notch. Jake Goldman(4 steals), Jake Bartram(3 steals),Simon Keough(2 steals), Cole Cassidy(2 steals), Max Pegnato(2 steals) led the way. On the offensive side, they scored 22 straight points to open the game. St. Adelaide never knew what hit them.

Both teams settled in for the second half. St. John's simply worked the clock and looked for open shots. The highlight of the second half came with 5:33 left in the game. Jake Goldman fed Max Pegnato for his 100th point of the season and St. John's finished it out for a 33-18 win. With the basket, Pegnato became the 23rd player to break the 100 point barrier over the past 7 years.

St. John's kept their hopes alive for a EMass State Tournament invitation with the win. They are now 8-4 and need 10 wins to qualify.

Goldman Shocks IC Revere - February 3, 2013

At the Immaculate Conception School in Revere, the Boys Bantams took on IC Revere. Revere came into the game in first place with a record of 11-1. St. John's was 8-4 and needed to win to keep it's hopes for an EMass Tournament bid alive. St. John's came back from a 4 point deficit with just over a minute to go and Jake Goldman's basket gave them a big win. 

St. John's found itself in an early hole before settling in. Jake Bartram got things started with a jumper and Max Pegnato followed with back to back baskets to take a 6-3 lead. The teams would battle back and forth for the next 10 minutes. Simon Keough scored on a spinning turnaround followed by a Ben Turner feed from Pegnato to maintain a two point lead with 8:43 left. Revere would score 6 straight points to attempt to pull away, but St. John's countered. Simon Keough made 1 of 2 free throws and Pegnato followed with a bank shot but St. John's trailed by one with 2:16 left in the half. Revere's full court press caused turnovers down the stretch and they pulled away for a 22-17 halftime lead. 

St. John's could see it's tournament chances slipping away and they wanted none of that. Jake Goldman got things started with a fast break hoop. Pegnato followed to cut the lead to 22-21. With 9:30 left on the clock, Simon Keough grabbed a steal and dashed the length of the court to even the game at 23 all. After matching baskets, Revere started to take control. Down by four, Jake Goldman would keep St. John's in the game. He made 1 of 2 free throws, scored assisted by Cole Cassidy, and then assisted on baskets by Pegnato and Ben Turner. But Revere countered each time and St. John's trailed 34-32 with 3:47 to go. With 1:26 left, Revere called a time-out. They led 36-32 and came out looking to kill the clock. But St. John's caused a turnover and Ben Turner scored on an offensive rebound for his 100th point of the year to make it 36-34 with 1:07 on the clock. After another defensive stop, Simon Keough made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 36-35. On the ensuing out of bounds, Goldman and Keough tried in vain for a steal. Keough ended up on the ground after leaping for a steal and when he looked up, he realized that Revere had made an errant pass and thrown the ball out of bounds. St. John's called their final time-out with 33 seconds left trailing by one. St. John's came out and worked the ball around for the last shot. But Revere did not sit back and wait. With the ball being pressured, Jake Goldman saw an opening and headed to the middle of the paint. He let go a floating jumper which hit nothing but net as the Swampscott contingent erupted. Revere called a time-out with 8 seconds left. They now trailed for the first time since the 3:48 mark of the first half. Revere came out and raced down for a 3-pointer, it missed and somehow Simon Keough came up with the biggest rebound of the game as the clock expired for a 37-36 win. 

Max Pegnato led the St. John's scoring with 14 points. Jake Goldman was all over the court as he had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Simon Keough carried St. John's with 12 rebounds to go along with 6 points. With the win, St. John's is 9-4 and they have to win their season finale at St. Rafael of Medford to qualify for the EMass State Tournament with wins in 70% of their games.

Girls Bantams

Total Team Effort Leads to Win - February 2, 2013

At the Swampscott Middle School, the Girls Bantams took on St. John's of Winthrop. Swampscott needed the win to stay alive in their quest to make the EMass State Tournament. They got it with a big team effort as every player had at least a point, rebound, or assist.

Faye Parker scored on back to back offensive putbacks as Swampscott jumped out to an early lead. By the time Jillian Flanders made 1 of 2 free throws with 9:41 to go, Swampscott led 10-0. Winthrop finally broke through with a basket before back to back jumpers by Olivia Matela extended the lead to 14-2. Grace Carrigan would end the half by grabbing an offensive miss and putting it in for a 16-4 lead.

Any chance of a Winthrop comeback was ended early in the second half. Just 2:10 into the second half, Olivia Matela grabbed an offensive rebound and scored her 100th point of the season. With the basket, Matela became the 24th player(and second of the day) to break the 100 point barrier over the past seven years. Faye Parker would follow-up by scoring three times and assisting on a Katie Watts basket to push the lead past twenty. Mary Miles' putback finished off a 15-0 run to start the half and Winthrop was never in the game again.

For St. John's, Faye Parker(12 points and 7 rebounds) and Olivia Matela(10 points and 5 rebounds) each finished in double figures. Kayla Kornitsky(5 steals and 6 points) and Mary Miles(6 steals and 5 points) dominated defensively. Jillian Flanders had a solid all-around game with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and three steals as Swampscott improved to 8-4.

Boys Cadets

Second Half Surge Does In St. John's - February 3, 2013

At the Immaculate Conception School in Revere, the Boys Cadets took on IC Revere. The game was close for the first half but Revere clamped down the defense in the second half to put the game away.

St. John's trailed early until Ben Conner and Gavin Sullivan each scored to make it 5-4 at the 11:40 mark of the first half. Revere then went on a 9-2 run to start to pull away. Ben Connor stopped the run on a length of the floor pass from Gavin Sullivan to make it 14-6. Sullivan kept St. John's in the game with two 3-pointers on passes from McKeon Midland and Matt Moran to make it 18-14. Down by six with just over a minute to go, Matt Moran scored down low and Sullivan followed with another basket to cut the lead to 20-18 with 46 seconds left. But a late Revere 3-pointer left the St. John's comeback deflated as they trailed 23-18 at the half. 

Revere opened the second half with a 9-0 run. Chad Swigor's jumper cut the lead to 32-20 as St. John's tried to hang tough. With 7:39 left in the game, Gavin Sullivan drained another 3-pointer for his 100th point of the season to close the gap to 35-24. But St. John's would get no closer as IC Revere closed it out with a 6-1 run to take the victory. 

For St. John's, Gavin Sullivan was had a great all-around game with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 2 assists. Ben Conner and Matt Moran each had 7 rebounds in the loss.

Six Players Break 100 Point Barrier - February 3, 2013

Olivia Matela(104 points) and Max Pegnato(114 points) each scored their 100th points on Saturday. They became the 23rd and 24th players to score more than 100 points in a season over the past seven years. On Sunday, Gavin Sullivan(102) and Ben Turner(100) became the 25th and 26th players to accomplish the feat. They join Jaymie Caponigro(134 points) who scored her 100th against St. Pius on January 19th and Faye Parker(123 points) who scored her 100th against St Adelaide on January 20th. Randolf Thurman holds the record with 328 points scored during the 2006-2007 season.