St. John's Headed to Final Four
At Milton High School on Saturday, the took on St. Bartholomew of Needham in the quarterfinals of the CYO State Tournament.
Second seeded St. John's came out looking to prove something after having lost in the North Shore League Final. Kasey Kennedy got them on the board 45 seconds into the game and the swarming Blue defense caused numerous turnovers from St. Barts.
Offensive putbacks by Hannah and Eleni Laskaris pushed the early lead to 10-0. On the ensuing inbounds, St. John's caused a turnover when St. Barts could not inbounds the ball.
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This led to a Gabby Lariviere basket on a feed from Kendall Rhodes and it was 12-0 with 11:31 to go in the first half. After finally giving up a basket, Eleni Laskaris scored the next 6 points for St. John's as they took an 18-7 lead with 3:55 to go.
On the defensive end, Elizabeth Weisse recorded 5 steals and her basket with 1:52 left extended the lead to 16 points. Ellie Wright finished the half by making a jumper with 27 ticks left for a comfortable 26-12 half-time lead.
St. John's kept up the defensive pressure in the second half. Kendall Rhodes had two early steals and baskets for a 30-15 lead with 14:08 left in the game.
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This started a 10-0 run highlighted by back to back offensive put backs by Hannah Leahy. St. John's had pushed the lead to 38-15 with less than 3 minutes gone in the second half!
St. Bart's finally broke the streak but St. John's wouldn't let them get back into the game. Kasey Kennedy took the ball coast to coast on consecutive offensive possesions to make it 45-21 with 6:01 left. St. John's cruised from there.
A late Claire Powell basket made the final 47-29 in favor of St. John's.
Eleni Lakaris led St. John's with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Gabby Lariviere had 13 rebounds.
Ellie Wright(4 points) and Claire Powell(8 rebounds) had solid games. Defensively, Kendall Rhodes and Elizabeth Weisse each had six steals.
St. John's moves on to the EMass Final Four next Saturday at Milton High School at 4:15pm vs. the winner of St. Francis of Medford vs. Gate of Heaven of South Boston.
EMASS 2011 Girls Bantam CYO Rankings
February 28, 2011 .
1) St. Adelaide of Peabody
2) St. John's of Swampscott
3) St. Denis of Westwood
4) Gate of Heaven of South Boston
5) St. Rafael of Medford
6) St. Francis of Medford
7) St. Bartholomew of Needham
8) St. Agatha of Milton
9) St. Edward of Medfield
