For the last 4 seasons, at least one team from St. John’s has made the State Tournament. In 3 of those 4 years, a team made it to the Final Four. That alone is quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately for St. John’s, once again the season ended without making it to the Championship Game.
At Milton High School, St. John’s took on the undefeated St. Rafael of Medford team. After a made Medford free throw, Chris Murphy scored on an offensive put back for an early lead. Donnie Weisse followed with a driving basket to keep St. John’s ahead by two at the 11:18 mark.
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St. Rafael would even the score but then Travis Thurman fed Colin O’Brian on the baseline for a basket to regain the lead. Thurman then extended the lead to three and with 8:03 left in the half it seemed like an upset was possible.
But Medford came back to retake the lead before back to back baskets by Matt Hubauer and Murphy gave St. John’s a three point lead with 6:36 on the clock. But Medford was starting to make adjustments offensively.
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A Travis Thurman hoop at the 4:13 mark kept St. John’s up by one. St. Rafael then kicked it into a higher gear. They scored twelve straight points to enter halftime up by 11.
Medford continued to roll early in the second half. Weisse ended the streak with a jumper with 13:45 to go but a comeback was not in the works. Two late 3-pointers by Alex Derkautsan were the only highlights as St. John’s dropped a tough one.
For St. John’s, Donnie Weisse led the scoring with 8 points. Travis Thurman added 7 points and 10 rebounds. The good news for St. John’s is that they have seven 7th graders on the team, which bodes well for the future.
Cormier Plays Last Game
For St. John’s player Alex Cormier, it is his last game in a St. John’s of Swampscott uniform but not necessarily a St. John’s uniform.
He will attend St. John’s Prep next year. Cormier played 5 years for St. John’s. He finished 1st All-Time in Rebounds (430) and free Throw Attempts (222). Second in Games Played (77) and Free Throws Made (78), Fourth in Points (396) and assists.
In 2010 he scored 168 points in a season becoming one of only 14 players who have accomplished that feat. He also played on two State Tournament teams and in the last ten years, he is only the third player to play all five seasons of CYO basketball.
