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 getting much closer in the second half. Olivia Matela scored on two straight possesions, the second on a feed from Katie Watts to bring St. John's within 12 at 31-19 with 6:43 left in the game. But Swampscott could not get any closer against the playoff bound IC Salem/ Marblehead team.
Fourth grader, Olivia Matela had a strong game for St. John's with 6 points. As usual Faye Parker dominated the boards with 16 rebounds to go along with 7 points. Fiona Herring and Molly Marocco each added 7 rebounds in the loss.
A Bright Future Ahead
Girls Bantam Head Coach Jody Watts may have had the toughest job this year. She returned only one player and had only one sixth grader on her team in a league comprised mostly of sixth grade girls. Her team had 9 5th graders and two 4th graders but after a slow start they quickly showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with next year.
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The girls are extremely committed. On Fridays they practice for an hour and a half in Nahant and then another hour and a half in Swampscott. The program in Nahant has been a big boost for the CYO program. For girls basketball it is the place to be. Sue Rosa from Nahant and Bobby D'Agnese have done a tremendous job preparing the girls for the next step.
Two years ago our Girls Bantams had a similar year and then last year they made it to the State Final Four. Hopefully this team will do the same. Congratulations to Abby Bruhm, Grace Carrigan, Fiona Herring, Kayla Kornitsky, Parker Leone, Molly Marocco, Olivia Matela, Mary Miles, Faye Parker, Marley Schmidt, Brooke Stout, Katie Watts, and Coaches Jody Watts and Randy Carrigan for a great year!
