St. John's Girls Bantams Play for Championship Today

St. John's Headed to Super Sunday
At Medford High School, the St. John's Girls Bantams(13-1) took on St. Francis of Medford(12-3) in the Semi-Final of the North Shore CYO Playoffs on Saturday.

St. John's was playing without leading scorer Hannah Leahy and would need others to step up.

In the early going, Eleni Laskaris stepped up. She opened the game by grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring.

She then scored 4 of the next 6 points as St. John's took the early 8-2 lead at the 12:09 mark.

But the rest of the team also stepped up as Elizabeth Weisse, Jaymie Caponigro, Lily Burkett, and Gabby Lariviere scored the next four St. John's baskets.

But St. Francis would not roll over. The lead was just 5 points heading into the last minute.

Gabby Lariviere's free throw with 3 seconds left gave Swampscott an 18-12 half-time lead.

Lariviere picked up where she left off in the first half by hitting another free throw to extend the lead to seven with 14:04 to go. But St. John's couldn't shake Medford.

Back to back hoops by Eleni Laskaris gave St. John's a five point lead with 8:59 left. Both teams matched each other defensively until another big play turned things in St. Johns' favor.

After missing back to back shots, Kasey Kennedy grabbed an offensive rebound and drained a jumper from the foul line extended for a 27-18 lead at the seven minute mark. This ignited an 11-2 run to close out the game for St. John's.

Eleni Laskaris led St. John's with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Everyone picked up on the boards.

Gabby Lariviere was dominant with 15 rebounds and 8 points. Lily Burkett added 10 rebounds and Jaymie Caponigro had 7 rebounds and 9 points. Point Guard Elizabeth Weisse even pitched in with 6 rebounds of her own as St. John's heads to the final with a 36-20 win.

They will face undefeated St. Adelaide of Peabody(15-0) for the championship tomorrow. St. Adelaide knocked off St. Thomas of Nahant in the other semi-final.