St. John's 2013 Season Begins

Moran Powers St. John's

January 14, 2013

At the Brown School in Peabody, the Boys Cadets took on St. Adelaide of Peabody in a Monday night match-up. St. John's took an early lead and then held off a late charge by Peabody to take the win.

St. John's struck first on a Gavin Sullivan steal and then lenghth of the court drive. After a Peabody basket, Matt Moran scored on a feed from Chad Swigor to maintain the 2 point lead. After a Peabody 3-pointer gave them the lead, Gavin Sullivan countered with a 3-pointer of his own to retake the lead at the 10:04 mark of the first half. For the next four minutes, Sullivan would dominate the game. He assisted on a Matt Moran basket, scored off a pass from Swigor, fed Moran again, and then grabbed a missed shot and scored on an offensive putback to give St. John's an 8 point lead. But strong defensive pressure from St. Adelaide closed the gap to just a single point. With 28.7 seconds on the clock, McKeon Midland came up with a huge offensive board and tapped it in. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to send St. John's to the half with a four point lead. 

In the second half, St. John's Coach Ed Thurman decided to pressure Peabody by taking the ball inside to Matt Moran. Ben Conner fed Moran for a basket to open the half. After a Max Emmerich drive, St. John's went to Moran for baskets on their next two trips down the floor to maintain a 26-20 lead with 9:11 left in the game. Using their height advantage, St. John's next went to Ben Conner. He scored off a give and go from Moran and then drained two free throws to make it 31-27 at the 5:53 mark. But St. Adelaide refused to give in. Their full court pressure caught St. John's by surprise and they went on a 5-0 run to take the lead. St. John's would finally break the trap and use their advantages again. Gavin Sullivan fed Matt Moran for a basket and a foul. Moran completed the conventional 3-point play to retake the lead at 34-32 with 1:55 to go. After a made Peabody free throw, Chad Swigor broke the press and took the ball end to end for a basket to make it 36-33 with just 1:08 on the clock. A late St. Adelaide basket made the final 36-35. 

For St. John's Matt Moran had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Despite an injury, Gavin Sullivan added 9 points and Ben Conner had 9 rebounds.

Caponigro's Free Throws Preserves St. John's Victory

January 13, 2013

At St. Clement's High School, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on St. Francis of Medford. St. John's overcame a halftime deficit and Jaymie Caponigro made two free throws with 6 seconds left in the game to seal the win.

St. Francis came out of the gate fast with four quick points. Jaymie Caponigro tied things up with back to back baskets both assisted by Elizabeth Weisse. St. Francis would retake the lead with four straight points and the battle was on. Kasey Kennedy deflected a missed shot to Kendall Rhodes to cut the lead to two at the 11:06 mark of the first half. Despite a full court St. John's press, Medford extended the lead to three. Claire Powell and Gabby LaRiviere each made one of two free throws to bring St. John's within a point at 11-10 with 6:18 left.But St. Francis stormed ahead extending their lead to eight points as the half wound down. Just as it looked like St. John's was out of it, they fought back. Elizabeth Weisse drained a 3-pointer with 43 seconds to go to make it 25-20. Hannah Leahy followed with an offensive putback to make it 25-22 at the half and clearly the momentum had shifted.

Jaymie Caponigro got things started in the second half by making a free throw and following up with a driving hoop and was fouled. Her made free throw gave St. John's its first lead of the game at 26-25 less than two minutes into the second half. Kasey Kennedy followed with a big 3-pointer less than 30 seconds later to make it 29-25. St. Francis countered with a 6-1 run of its own to retake the lead. Caponigro matched them with back to back baskets, the second on a pass from Maya Cueva to make it 34-31 with 8:05 left in the game causing St. Francis to take a time-out. St. Francis scored out of the time-out before St. John's would make another run. Caponigro scored off an out of bounds pass and then Hannah Leahy blocked a shot on the defensive end. This led to another 3-pointer from Kasey Kennedy to make it 39-33 St. John's. After a made Medford basket, Kennedy struck again. Her third 3-pointer of the game made it 42-35 with 5:09 to go. But the pesky St. Francis team would not go away. They made two long 3-pointers of their own to cut the lead to two points. For St. John's, it seems that someone different always steps up to make a play, this time it was Kendall Rhodes. She made a great pass to Hannah Leahy for a basket and foul. The made free throw made the score 47-42. St. Francis continued to make long shots and whittled the lead to three. But they were missing one thing, that one thing was Jaymie Caponigro. She scored the next 5 points for St. John's to give them a 52-46 lead with 1:42 left in the game. But St. Francis wasn't through yet. They scored back to back baskets to make it 52-50. But St. John's didn't panic and when Caponigro closed in on a breakaway, all St. Francis could do was foul to prevent the easy basket. With 6 seconds on the clock, Caponigro calmly made both free throws. It was a good thing she did as St. Francis made a 3-pointer as time expired and St. John's escaped with a 54-53 road win.

For St. John's, Caponigro dominated with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Hannah Leahy controlled the boards with a double/double of 16 rebounds and 10 points. Kasey Kennedy added 9 points and 4 assists as St. John's improved to 6-2 on the season.

St. John's Falls to Top Team

January 13, 2013

At St. Clements High School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on league leader St. Francis of Medford. Despite hanging tough for a while, St. Francis pulled away in the second half to take the win.

Things looked good early for St. John's as Faye Parker won the opening tap and then scored first for the early lead. St. Francis would answer with 8 straight points to take the lead. Jillian Flanders ended the run by making two free throws to cut the lead in half at the 8:40 mark. Both teams settled into a strong defensive game as neither team could find the basket for the next 3 minutes. Olivia Matela's jumper with 5:20 on the clock broke the drought and cut the lead to 8-6. St. Francis countered with 6 points of its own to take a comfortable 14-6 lead. Faye Parker would strike back by making two free throws and then grabbing an alley oop pass from Katie Watts to make it 14-10. After a made Medford free throw, Watts would feed Parker again to cut the lead to 15-12 heading into the half.

As the second half started, St. Francis surged again. A 7-2 run extended their lead to 8 points. But back to back baskets by Parker and then Jillian Flanders off an offensive rebound cut the lead to 22-18 with 11:06 to go. Grace Carrigan made 1 of 2 from the line and it was 22-19 and it looked like St. John's was back. But it was not to be, St. Francis showed why they are in first place by turning up the defensive pressure and pulling away with a 9-0 run to take a 35-27 win.

For St. John's, Faye Parker had her usual double/double with 12 points and 10 rebounds but was hampered by foul trouble. Jillian Flanders played well with 4 points and 5 rebounds. Kayla Kornitsky added 6 points in the loss.

St. John's Hangs On For Win

January 12, 2013

At Matignon High School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on St. Rafael of Medford in a rematch of an earlier loss. This time St. John's held on for a thrilling win.

In the early going, it was two players who don't necessarily get all of the headlines that carried St. John's. Fiona Herring had 6 points and Grace Carrigan added four points as St. John's led at the half 16-14.

In the second half, Faye Parker scored 8 points and finished with 16 rebounds and Olivia Matela tossed in 6 points as St. John's held on for a 32-29 win in a rematch of a game they had lost by double figures just before Christmas.

For St. John's, Grace Carrigan(6 points and 3 rebounds) Fiona Herring(6 points and 6 rebounds) and Emma Tomlins(6 rebounds) all played large roles in the win.

St. John's Drops Defensive Battle

January 14, 2013

At the Brown School in Peabody, the St. John's Boys Bantams(4-2) took on St. Adelaide of Peabody(6-1). It was a low scoring battle as St. Adelaide showed why it is one of the top defensive teams in the league by holding St. John's to single figures in both halves to take the win.

It took more than 5 minutes for either team to score, but Graham Templeman finally broke the ice for an early St. John's lead. Both teams matched baskets as St. Johns' Simon Keough made two free throws, sank a jumper, and then fed Ben Turner to keep things even. But Peabody's defense caused several late turnovers as they pulled ahead to take a 16-8 halftime lead.

St. John's couldn't find the bottom of the net in the second half. Despite holding St. Adelaide to only 11 second half points, St. John's couldn't come back. Max Pegnato had four second half points but Peabody close out the win.