St. John's Girls Teams Headed to EMass Finals

St. John's will send two teams to the EMass Finals to be held at Cathedral High School in Boston on March 16th. The Girls Bantams led by Coaches Jody Watts, Randy Carrigan, and Dave Matela advanced with wins this weekend over St. Margaret Mary of Westwood and St. Ann of Dorcchester. The Girls Cadets led by Coaches Joe Caponigro and Don Weisse advanced with wins this weekend over St. Denis of Westwood and Immaculate Conception of Revere.

For the Girls Cadets no one was hotter than Elizabeth Weisse. She scored her 100th point of the season in a playoff loss to St. Rafael of Medford and scored 42 points in the two State Tournament wins.

Girls Cadets

Weisse Shoots St. John's to Win - March 2, 2013

At Milton High School, the Girls Cadets took on St. Denis of Westwood in the EMass State Tournament. The game was close all the way, but St. John's pulled it out on the back of Elizabeth Weisse who finished with 23 points. 

St. John's got on the board first on a made Gabby LaRiviere free throw. After a made St. Denis hoop, St. John's went on a 5-0 run to make it 7-2 at the 9:48 mark of the first half. St. Denis countered with 10 straight points of their own to roar ahead. St. John's slowly worked their way back. Elizabeth Weisse scored on a drive to the hoop and then made two free throws. With 4:23 on the clock, Hannah Leahy made 1 of 2 from the line to even the game back up. St. Denis answered with a deep 3-pointer to take the lead back and then Weisse drained a jumper to cut the lead to one at 15-14. A late Westwood basket sent them to the half ahead 17-14. 

It only took 4 seconds for Jaymie Caponigro to be fouled to start the second half. Her two made free throws cut the lead to 17-16. St. Denis answered back to push the lead to three before St. John's made their move. St. John's scored 9 straight points led by a conventional 3-point play by Hannah Leahy to take a 25-19 lead at the 10:14 mark. The two teams would match baskets for the next five minutes. Jaymie Caponigro and Gabby LaRiviere each scoring on drives to the hoop and Weisse hitting another jumper to make it 31-25. But St. Denis wouldn't go away. They came back to tie the game in less than a minute. After a made Leahy free throw, St. Denis converted a 3-pointer to reatke the lead 34-32. Just when things looked bleakest, Elizabeth Weisse nailed a 3-pointer to make it 35-34 in favor of St. John's with 2:28 left. Westwood answered back to retake the lead and cause Swampscott to take a time-out with 1:53 on the clock. Out of the time-out, Weisse made another 3-pointer to make it 38-36, St. John's with 1:35 left. St. Denis tied it up before Hannah Leahy was fouled. She calmly stepped to the line and made both free throws to make it 40-38 with 1:15 to go. After a defensive stop, St. Denis was forced to foul. Weisse made 1 of 2 to make it 41-38 at the 47 second mark. Westwood answered back and then caused a turnover to make it 41-40. But on the inbounds pass, Jaymie Caponigro got the steal and fed Weisse. She was fouled and made another free throw to make it 42-40 with 22 seconds left. St. John's dug in and forced a bad shot which went out of bounds. St. John's was able to avoid a foul and Gabby LaRiviere hit a jumper with 4 seconds left to give St. John's a hard fought 44-40 victory. 

Ellizabeth Weisse led St. John's with 23 points and Hannah Leahy added ten. Jaymie Caponigro grabbed 10 rebounds as St. John's moves on to take on Immaculate Conception of Revere. St. John's hopes to avenge an earlier loss to Revere in the matchup.

St. John's Takes Rematch to EMass Final - March 3, 2013

At Milton High School, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on Immaculate Conception of Revere in the EMass Final Four. St. John's had lost earlier in the year at Revere by a score of 41-39. This time, St. John's dominated by riding the still hot shooting of Elizabeth Weisse into the EMass Final on March 16th. 

Revere came out of the gates and scored first for the early lead. Hannah Leahy assisted Jaymie Caponigro to even the game up early. For the next five minutes, Elizabeth Weisse would carry the team. First, she hit a jumper and then assisted on the next three field goals to Gabby LaRiviere, Kasey Kennedy, and Hannah Leahy. With 9:22 on the clock, she drained a long 3-pointer to give St. John's a six point lead. Jaymie Caponigro would maintain the lead with a drive off a Kendall Rhodes pass to make it 15-9. But Revere would close the gap to only two until a Caponigro free throw made it 16-13. After a made Revere basket, Kendall Rhodes scored on a baseline drive to make it 18-15. Weisse followed with her second 3-pointer of the half and then Rhodes fed Gabby LaRiviere off a steal to make it 21-15. Claire Powell extended the lead at eight with a foul line jumper to make it 25-17. With under a minute to go, Revere had closed within one when Weisse scored on a drive to the hoop to make it 27-24. Two late St. John's free throws made the score 29-24 at the end of the half. 

With Kendall Rhodes at the line early in the second half, Jaymie Caponigro was able to grab the missed free throw and put it back in to extend the lead to 32-24. The two teams would play evenly for the next 5 minutes until Kasey Kennedy hit a 3-point bomb to push the St. John's lead to double digits with 8:43 left. But IC Revere simply wouldn't fold. With the game just under the 5 minute mark, Revere had cut the lead to seven and were pressing the ball. Caponigro hit a bank shot from the corner to make it 43-34 with 3:49 to go. St. John's would finish the game with a 9-0 run to take the win by a final of 50-34. 

For St. John's Elizabeth Weisse finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jaymie Caponigro had a double/double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Every player contributed with at least a point, rebound or assist. The team put on a defensive clinic in the second half by holding Revere to only 10 points. St. John's will play in the EMass Final on March 16th at Cathedral High School in Boston against league nemesis St. Adelaide of Peabody. 

Girls Bantams

St. John's Rolls to Win - March 2, 2013

At Milton High School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on St. Margaret Mary of Westwood in the EMass State Tournament. St. John's went on a 14-0 run at the end of the half and start of the second to put the game away. 

St. John's took the early command with a 9-1 run to open the game. The run was keyed by back to back length of the court passes from Faye Parker to Katie Watts. After a made St. Margaret Mary basket, Mary Miles followed with a jump shot to make it 11-3 at the 9:32 mark. But just as it looked like St. John's would put the game away early, Westwood countered with 11 points in a row to storm back to a 14-11 lead. Faye Parker ended the streak with an offensive putback and then matched a Westwood basket with a turnaround jumper to cut the lead to 16-15 with 5:48 left in the half. St. Margaret Mary answered back to make it 18-15 but that would be it for the half as the St. John's defense clamped down. Parker fed Watts and then Olivia Matela scored off an out of bounds play to give St. John's the lead back. By the time Faye Parker put back an offensive miss with 6 seconds left, it was a 10-0 run to end the half for a 25-18 St. John's lead. 

Things didn't get any better for St. Margaret Mary in the second half. Parker scored off another miss and then fed Olivia Matela to make it 29-18 just 1:08 into the half. Westwood finally ended the 14-0 run with a basket to cut the lead back to single digits. But St. John's was having none of that. Their swarming defense caused turnovers which led to baskets by Matela and Watts followed by a Fiona Herring putback to make it 35-20. Westwood would take one last shot at a comeback as they slowly whittled the lead to 35-29 with just under 10 minutes left. But St. John's had enough, Olivia Matela scored on a drive, Mary Miles converted a lay up, and then Faye Parker scored to make it 41-29 with 5:57 left. St. John's was never in trouble again as the cruised to an easy 46-31 win. 

For St. John's, Faye Parker dominated on both ends. She finished with a double/double with 14 points and 22 rebounds. She also added 7 assists and 5 blocks. Olivia Matela(11 points and 8 rebounds), Katie Watts(10 points),and Fiona Herring(7 points and 9 rebounds) led the offensive surge. Kayla Kornitsky had a strong defensive game and grabbed 5 rebounds on the defensive end. St. John's will play St. Ann of Neponset in the Final Four.

No Stopping St. John's on Road to EMass Final - March 3, 2013

At Milton High School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on St. Ann of Dorchester in the EMass Final Four. St. John's was not to be denied as they came out flying by scoring 22 straight points to win in a romp. 

After a Olivia Matela jumper less than two minute into the game, St. John's led 6-0. St. John's waa on a mission and did not want to be denied. Katie Watts grabbed a defensive rebound and raced the length of the court to make it 10-0 with 9:03 left in the half. On the defensive end, St. John's was everywhere as St. Ann couldn't create a shot. When they did, they ran into Faye Parker. After back to back blocks, Parker fed Watts to make it 18-0. After 22 straight points, St. Ann finally got on the board and finished the half with five straight points to make it a 22-5 halftime score. 

Faye Parker ended any thoughts of a comeback by scoring twice to start the second half. After back to back St. Ann baskets, Mary Miles took the ball hard to the basket to make it 28-9. With 5:22 on the clock, Brook Stout scored off an offensive put back to make it 32-10. From there it was just killing the clock for the win. 

Olivia Matela led St. John's with 10 points and Faye Parker added 16 rebounds. Parker Leone had a big game with 8 rebounds as St. John's moves on to the EMass Final on March 16th at Cathedral High School in Boston. They will take on league champion St. Francis of Medford who they have lost to three times this year.

 Boys Bantams

Bartram Saves St. John's in OT - March 2, 2013

At Milton High School, the St. John's Boys Bantams took on St. Margaret Mary of Westwood in the EMass State Tournament. St. John's came back from a seven point half-time deficit to win on a Jake Bartram jumper on overtime. 

St. John's struck first on a Ben Turner basket to open the game. After a matching basket from St. Margaret Mary, St. John's started to take control. Simon Keough made 1 of 2 free throws followed by back to back Cole Cassidy hoops to make it 7-2 with 10:17 on the clock. Both teams matched baskets with Max Pegnato and Keough scoring for St. John's to make it 11-6 at the 7:06 mark. But Westwood came storming back to even the game before Keough fed Ben Turner to make it 13-11. After another Westwood basket, Turner assisted Pegnato to make it 15-13 with 3:50 left in the half. But St. Margaret Mary would dominate the closing minutes to finish the half leading 22-15. 

Simon Keough tried to jump start St. John's with a driving hoop just 17 seconds into the second half to cut the lead to 22-17. But it didn't work, Westwood answered with back to back baskets to stretch the lead to nine. St. John's countered with an 8-2 run paced by four points from Jake Goldman to make it 28-25. After a made Westwood free throw, St. John's would score six straight points with Goldman hitting a jumper off an out of bounds play to give them the lead at 31-29 with 5:41 left. The teams would trade baskets down the stretch with Pegnato making two free throws with 2:14 to go to make it 37-35 St. John's. But then, both teams went cold. Jake Goldman fouled out in the final minute and St. Margaret Mary evened the game up with only 21 seconds left. St. John's couldn't convert as time ran out and the game headed to overtime. 

With four minutes on the clock, the overtime started with neither team able to score. St. John's couldn't convert on four free throws and the game remained tied. Ben Turner broke the ice when he scored off an offensive putback to give St. John's a 39-37 lead at the 2:41 mark. St. Margaret Mary countered with a basket to even it up before Keough was fouled on the other end. He made 1 of 2 to make it 40-39 with 1:25 left in overtime. On the defensive end, Ben Turner fouled out of the game and off the bench came Jake Bartram to take his spot. St. Margaret Mary made the first and missed the second to give St. John's a chance with the game tied at 40. St. John's worked the clock down until Max Pegnato saw an opening. He drove to the basket and then dished it out to Jake Bartram at the foul line extended. Bartram never hesitated and swished the jumper. St. Margaret Mary called timeout with 6.8 seconds left as the St. John's bench erupted. Westwood rushed the ball up court but could not get a good shot off as St. John's survived 42-40. 

Ben Turner led St. John's with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Simon Keough added 10 points, but the biggest points of the game came from Jake Bartram as his clutch jumper sends St. John's into a Quarter-Final match-up with St. Edward of Medfield.

St. John's Closes Season in EMass Quarterfinals - March 3, 2013

At Milton High School, the St. John's Boys Bantams took on St. Edward of Medfield in the EMass Quarterfinals. St. John's fell behind early and were never quite able to catch up as their season came to an end. 

St. Edward came out on fire and scored the first 12 points of the game. Graham Templeman ended the streak off a feed from Jake Bartram to make it 12-2 at the 10:07 mark of the first half. St. John's was never able to get any offense going and were held to only three free throws the rest of the half as Medfield opened up a twenty point lead to end the half. 

St. John's was determined to try to make a game of it in the second half. Ben Turner got things started off an offensive miss just 43 seconds in. But St. John's couldn't break through. Chris Emmerich's jumper with 7:03 left got St. John's on a 9-0 run. Back to back made free throws by Max Pegnato and Ben Turner followed by a Jake Goldman feed to Pegnato made the score 35-23. But it proved to be too late. St. Edward dribbled out the clock to go home with a 39-23 win. 

Ben Turner led St. John's with 6 points and 9 rebounds. Jake Goldman added 6 points and Simon Keough grabbed 7 boards. St. John's finishes the season 12-6, including the first Boys Bantam State Tournament victory since 2004.