Only A Blizzard Can Stop St. John's

Nobody expected the Girls Cadet game last Tuesday night to be the regular season finale. But after the blizzard, it was. In a matchup of two 9-2 teams, St. John’s led throughout the first half, but ran out of steam in the second half. The bright spot for St. John’s was the play of Hannah Leahy. She finished with a double/double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. At the 9:43 mark of the first half, she scored her 100th point of the season. She is the 7th player to accomplish the feat this season.

The St. John’s program had an outstanding season overall. On Saturday, they host three Quarterfinal games at the Swampscott Middle School. Three of the four teams have also qualified for the EMass State Tournament. “It is a tremendous accomplishment for our program.  If I were to look back, I think I can say that the turnaround for our program was due to Dan Enos, Chad Nelson, Chris Thomsen, Jeremy Villanueva, and Sam Walker. Those five players gave our program respectability and I was lucky to be a part of that.”

 Boys Bantams vs. St. Ann’s of Peabody – 2:00pm

St. John’s will be without two starters as they take on a team that they have beaten twice already.  The team will be counting on several players to fill in.  Ben Turner averages 8.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Jake Bartram, Justin DeSalvo, Zach Elwell, and Graham Templeman give the deep St. John’s team several options off the bench. Chris Emmerich, Justin Ratner, and Anthony Rakauskas all played well in the earlier wins over St. Ann’s.  “It’s always tough to beat a team three times in a season”,  said Coach Mike Cassidy, “It will require a total team effort.”

Girls Bantams vs. St. Thomas of Nahant – 3:15pm

This will be a big crosstown matchup between two teams that attend school together and many played together in a Christmas Tournament. St. John’s will be led by Faye Parker who is averaging a double/double of 10.2 points and 14.8 rebounds per game. Emma Tomlins and Jillian Flanders will be counted on to help on the rebounding side when Parker is out of the game.  St. John’s prides itself on a team defensive effort and any of seven different players can be switched in and out at guard. The two teams were scheduled to meet last week but were snowed out.

Girls Cadets vs. St. John’s of Peabody – 4:30pm

St. John’s of Swampscott has beaten St. John’s of Peabody twice this year, 55-40 and 58-41.  They will be without their leading rebounder, Hannah Leahy. Gabby LaRiviere will be counted on as she averages 7.5 rebounds per game, along with Maya Cueva(4 rebounds per game) and Claire Powell(6 rebounds in the earlier game vs. St. John’s of Peabody). On the defensive side, Kendall Rhodes had 8 steals in the last game at Peabody and on the offensive side, Jaymie Caponigro is averaging 11.7 points per game.

Boys Cadets at St. Joseph of Medford – 5:30

St. John’s lost to St. Joseph 41-30 earlier in the year at home. This time they will have to travel to Medford.  They have been led by Gavin Sullivan(9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds) and Matt Moran(7.2 points and 7.2 rebounds). Ben Conner will help in the paint(6.25 rebounds per game) and Chad Swigor, Max Emmerich, and Josh Allen will play at guard. The key to the game for St. John’s will be to limit their turnovers and make high percentage shots.