St. John's Season in Full Swing

Girls Bantams

St. John's Takes Rematch - December 15, 2012

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Girls Bantams took on Immaculate Conception of Revere in a rematch of an earlier win. St. John's scored early and pulled away for a 35-28 win. 

It took just 9 seconds for Fiona Herring to score the first basket of the game assisted by Emma Tomlins. After Revere retook the lead, back to back jumpers by Olivia Matela put St. John's back in front. Faye Parker followed with an offensive putback to extend the lead to five. Revere was in it's "Box and One" defense on Parker, but St. John's was playing tough defense of it own. They held Revere scoreless for over 6 minutes. In the meantime, Matela drained a long 3-pointer to extend the St. John's lead to double figures. As the half wound down, Faye Parker got into foul trouble and Revere capitalized. They scored 10 straight points to tie the game. Fiona Herring came right back with two baskets, the last with only 2 seconds left, to give St. John's a 17-13 halftime lead. 

Olivia Matela scored the first six points of the second half and Swampscott picked up the defensive intensity. Mary Miles stole a pass and went the length of the court to make it a 10 point lead with 10:20 left in the game. After a made Revere free throw, Herring fed Katie Watts to make it 27-16. St. John's would extend the lead to 13 points until back to back Revere baskets cut the lead to 10. Emma Tomlins put St. John's back up by 12 on a nice pass from Katie Watts which made the score 35-23 with 2:51 to go. After Faye Parker fouled out, Revere scored 5 straight points to make things interesting, but Mary Miles dribbled out the clock and St. John's took the 35-28 victory. 

Olivia Matela led all scorers with 14 points. Fiona Herring has a fine all around game with 9 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists. Emma Tomlins had her best game of the year as she carried St. John's with Parker in foul trouble. She finished with 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 points as St. John's improved to 3-1 on the season.

Girls Cadets

St. John's Rolls December 15, 2012

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on OLA of Lynnfield. Swampscott jumped out to an early lead and then never looked back as they cruised to an easy win. 

Just 17 seconds into the game, Hannah Leahy scored off an offensive miss for the early lead. Six Elizabeth Weisse points shot St. John's into a comfortable lead at the 10:40 mark of the first half. From there Swampscott would go on an 11-2 run led by Maya Cueva's 2 free throws and then an assist off an offensive rebound to Claire Powell to make it 21-6 with 6:37 still remaining in the first half. An Ellie Wright basket and Hannah Leahy free throw sent St. John's to the half with a 24-11 lead. 

Jaymie Caponigro got things started in the right direction for St. John's with an early second half basket. Kendall Rhodes then scored and assisted on a Weisse basket for a quick 6-0 run to open the half. An Ellie Wright 3-pointer followed by another Claire Powell hoop gave St. John's its biggest lead of the game with 8:24 still to go. From there, St. John's eased in for the win. 

For St. John's, Elizabeth Weisse led the scoring with 11 points. Maya Cueva had another strong game with 11 rebounds and Ellie Wright added 9 points in the win. 

Late Comeback Falls Short - December 16, 2012

At Peabody High School, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on league powerhouse and undefeated St. Adelaide of Peabody. After trailing by 16 at the half, St. John's came back to within four points before running out of gas and falling short. 

Kasey Kennedy scored 10 seconds into the game as St. John's jumped out to an early lead. But from there, St. Adelaide forced Swampscott into numerous turnovers to go on a 13-2 run to take the lead. Elizabeth Weisse cut the Peabody lead to 8 points with a basket at the 4:42 mark to make it 13-6. But St. John's would not score for the rest of the half as Peabody took control and held a 21-6 halftime lead. 

Weisse started off the second half with a made 3-pointer and St. John's turned up the defensive pressure by applying a full court trap. Gabby LaRiviere cut the lead to 25-13 off a feed from Jaymie Caponigro at the 12:51 mark as St. John's slowly clawed its way back. Hannah Leahy's putback of an offensive rebound followed by two Kasey Kennedy made free throws brought the lead down to ten with 4:30 left in the game. From there, St. John's went on one last run. Jaymie Caponigro's drive to the basket for a hoop was followed by another Hannah Leahy score to make it 32-26 with 3:39 on the clock. After yet another defensive stop, it was Caponigro again with another driving basket to make it 32-28 with 3:16 left in the game. St. Adelaide called a time out and tried to settle things down. Peabody came out and finshed off the win by scoring the last nine points to survive a late scare for the win. 

For St. John's, Jaymie Caponigro scored all of her 8 points in the second half. Hannah Leahy dominated the boards with 13 rebounds and Elizabeth Weisse added 7 points and came up with several steals down the stretch as St. John's couldn't come all the way back for the win. 

Boys Cadets

Moran Doubles Up On Revere - December 15, 2012

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on Immaculate Conception of Revere. The game was close most of the way until Swampscott pulled away late for the win. 

Revere scored first before two made Gavin Sullivan free throws evened the game. Both teams were playing strong defensively and matched baskets until Josh Allen fed Matty Moran on a perfect bounce pass to give St. John's its' first lead with 7:51 on the clock. With St. John's trailing by two with 1:50 left in the half, Max Emmerich drained a 3-pointer to take back the lead. The half ended with St. John's leading 14-12. The key for St. John's was its' early rebounding dominance. Matt Moran's 10 first half rebounds prevented Revere from any second chance shots. 

Defense set the early second half tempo for St. John's. Max Emmerich came up with a steal and fed Gavin Sullivan to increase the lead to four. Emmerich would do the same at the 11:45 mark and this time it led to a Sullivan 3-pointer to make it 21-13. Ben Conner would then execute a perfect pass to Moran to increase the lead to double digits. IC Revere would surge back with a 9-2 run to get back in the game. But Moran would once again grab a rebound and put it back in for a 27-22 lead with 5:32 left in the game. Missed St. John's free throws allowed IC Revere to pull within two points. All game long, Chad Swigor had sacrificed his own personal stats to run the point and keep the game under control. He came through again with a pass to Moran to make it 29-25 at the 1:45 mark. St. John's finally finished off the stubborn Revere team with a Gavin Sullivan steal and lay up with 31 seconds left to make the final 32-25. 

For St. John's, Matt Moran had a huge game with 22 rebounds and 12 points. Gavin Sullivan added 14 points and Ben Conner had 9 boards. 

Sullivan's Double Not Enough - December 16, 2012

At the Northeast Metropolitan School, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on OLA of Lynnfield. Despite leading by seven at halftime, St. John's could not withstand a ferocious OLA comeback and fell 50-47. 

Gavin Sullivan got things started with a 3-pointer just 29 seconds into the game for an early St. John's lead. After Lynnfield came back to tie, Matty Moran scored 5 straight points and Gavin Sullivan made another 3-pointer to make it 11-3 at the 11:33 mark of the first half. St. John's maintained a 6 point lead after great passing from Chad Swigor to Ben Conner to Moran to make it 14-8. But Lynnfield wouldn't go away as they stormed back to take the lead. Jake McIntire ended the streak with a basket to retake the lead at 16-15. Max Emmerich followed with a steal which led to a Chris Legere pass to Sullivan for a basket and the foul. Sullivan's made free throw put St. John's up 19-15 with 6:02 left in the half. Just over two minutes later, Ben Conner made it 7 straight points for a 21-15 lead. OLA would cut the lead to 3 before Alex Derkautsan nailed a 3-pointer to make it 24-18 with 2:40 remaining. Gavin Sullivan would match an OLA basket with 3 points of is own to send St. John's into the half with a 27-20 lead. 

OLA came out on fire to start the second half as they went on a 21-5 run to take a 41-32 lead. But just when it looked like Lynnfield would run away with it, Matt Moran and Ben Conner scored to make it 41-36 with 4:58 left. After a made OLA basket, Sullivan countered with another 3-pointer to make it 43-39 at the 4:18 mark. In a game of runs, OLA pushed ahead again with a 7-2 run to seemingly put the game away. But St. John's wasn't through. Max Emmerich came up with a steal and took it the length of the court to make it 50-43. Ben Connor followed with a jumper to cut the lead to 50-45 with 41 seconds to go. After a defensive stop, Matt Moran made it 50-47 with 22 seconds on the clock and St. John's took their final timeout. But Swampscott could not muster anything else as OLA held on for the win. 

For St. John's, Gavin Sullivan had 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 assists. Matt Moran (11 points and 8 rebounds) and Ben Conner(10 points and 8 rebounds) each played well but St. John's lost a tough one. 

Boys Bantams

St. John's Edged Out - December 15, 2012

At the Swampscott Middle School, the Boys Bantams took on Immaculate Conception of Revere. It was a close all the way but Revere scored late to pull away for the win. 

Revere took an early lead and St. John's struggled to catch up. Swampscott got on the board with two made free throws by Cole Cassidy and Max Pegnato but Revere surged ahead. It took 4:29 for St. John's to get its first field goal which was an offensive tip in by Ben Turner. A Jake Bartram jumper pulled St. John's within 4 points with 8:11 to go in the half. Revere extended the lead to seven before St. John's made its run. They would score seven straight points capped off by a Simon Keough putback as the half ended to tie the game at 18. 

Revere struck first to open the second half but Jake Goldman came right back with a coast to coast drive to even it back up. Revere would pull ahead and lead until the 10:49 mark when Zack Elwell scored to give St. John's a 24-23 lead. But Revere would slowly start to pull away. Back to back Max Pegnato baskets brought St. John's within two with 6:01 to go but five straight Revere points put the game away. Swampscott could get no closer and lost 44-39. 

For St. John's Max Pegnato had 9 points and 8 rebounds. Ben Turner added 9 rebounds and 8 points in the loss.