Big Mac Devours Eastie

Big Mac Devours Eastie

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on Sacred Heart of East Boston. St. John's fed East Boston a healthy Big Mac as McKeon Midland pounded them with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a 49-33 win. 

It took only 32 seconds for McKeon Midland to find his range as he drained a foul line extended jumper for the lead. Ben Turner followed with an offensive putback to make it 4-0. Sacred Heart would even the score but St. John's would counter with a 10-4 run sparked by Jake McIntire. McIntire scored on a drive and then set-up Max Pegnato and Ben Turner for hoops,after making two free throws, he found Jake Bartram open for a bucket to make it 14-8 with 3:51 left in the half. After a Sacred Heart score, St. John's pounded the ball inside as McKeon Midland scored back to back baskets to make it 18-10. With time winding down, Ben Turner came up with a steal and basket to make it a 20-10 half-time lead for St. John's. The St. John's big men were dominating, Midland already had 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks and Ben Turner added 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. 

Sacred Heart wouldn't go away, climbing back into the game with a 6 point run to start the second half. Jake Goldman answered back with a 3-pointer to make it 23-16. But St. John's couldn't seem to put the game away as Sacred Heart slowly pulled back to within four points to 25-21. But all Sacred Heart had done is wake up a sleeping giant. St. John's went on a 10-0 run keyed by 6 points from McKeon Midland. When Sacred Heart finally broke the streak, Midland answered right back on a feed from Chris Legere to make it 37-23. St. John's simply cruised from there to seal the victory. 

For St. John's, Midland added 12 points, 7 rebounds, and two second half blocks to his first half totals. Ben Turner finished with 12 points and 9 rebounds and Jake McIntire had a season high 6 assists to go along with 8 points as St. John's pulled away for the win. 

Defense Drives St. John's Win

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Boys Bantams took on Sacred Heart of East Boston. St. John's scored the first 14 points of the game and never looked back as they rolled to an easy win. 

Anthony Rakauskas got things started on the right foot for St. John's as he scored 6 of the first 8 points and added two rebounds and a steal for an early 8-0 lead just 1:28 into the game. The St. John's pressure defense was in high gear. Oscar Hale took a steal the length of the court and Eithan Eichler followed with a drive to the basket to push the lead to 12-0. Another steal, this one by Cole Keough led to a Keough basket and a 14-0 lead at the 9:18 mark. Sacred Heart finally broke through, but Gabe D'Silva answered back off an offensive miss to make it 16-2. East Boston tried to get back in the game with 3 straight points but St. John's would strike back. Kaden Quirk threw a looping pass to D'Silva for a basket which was followed by a coast to coast drive by Kyle Fitzgerald to push the lead back to fifteen points. After a Sacred Heart basket, St. John's would close the half with baskets by Michael Fitzgerald and John Caponigro. As the buzzer sounded, Ethan Eichler was fouled. With the court emptied, Eichler calmly drained 2 free throws to end the half with St. John's in firm control, 26-7. The St. John's defense was the difference as they had 19 first half steals, led by Justin Ratner with six. 

St. John's kept the pressure on early in the second half. Rob Vernava fed Jason Aucone for a basket and a foul. Aucone converted the free throw for a conventional 3-point play to get things going. Gabe D'Silva added a tip in followed by a Cole Keough drive to finish off a 7 point run to start the half. The game was never close after that. A Kyle Fitzgerald no look pass to Oscar Hale provided the icing on the cake as St. John's took a 47-14 win. 

Everyone contributed to the big win as all 15 players had at least a point, rebound, or assist. On the defensive side, Justin Ratner had seven steals and Kaden Quirk added four. Anthony Rakauskas and Oscar Hale each had 8 points. Gabe D'Silva had 11 boards and Michael Fitzgerald had 9 rebounds of his own. St. John's had an amazing 28 steals during the game.

No Stopping St. John's

At the Brown School in Peabody, the St. John's Boys Bantams took on St. Ann's of Peabody. For St. John's it was another team effort as they got in front early and never looked back in taking their 6th win of the season. 

St. John's scored the first seven points of the game as Kyle Fitzgerald fed Ethan Weisse twice and Anthony Rakauskas had a conventional 3-point play with just 2:30 gone in the game. After a St. Ann's basket, St. John's began to take advantage of their height. Oscar Hale and Gabe D'Silva each scored on a putback of an offensive miss to make it 11-2. St. Ann's answered but then St. John's showed their unselfishness as Ethan Eichler set up Cole Keough and Michael Fitzgerald while John Caponigro found Cam O'Brien open for a drive to the basket to make it 17-4. Down the stretch it was Kyle Fitzgerald setting up Oscar Hale for a lay-up and then Hale tipping a pass to Justin Ratner for an open jumper. Ratner then closed out the half with a lay-up and free throw off a foul on the play to send St. John's into the half with a 26-8 lead. 

Robbie Vernava got things going just 11 seconds into the second half as he scored off an in-bounds pass. Gabe D'Silva followed with back to back offensive putbacks and then Vernava scored again assisted by Kaden Quirk to cap an eight point run. St. Ann's had no idea what had hit them. After a made basket, the onslaught continued. Nate Stern scored after an offensive miss and Ethan Eichler followed with a drive to the basket. John Caponigro followed with a jumper and then Eichler scored again. This capped a 16-2 run to open the second half and put the game away. St. John's cruised from there for an easy 48-21 win. 

Oscar Hale had another monster game on the boards for St. John's with 14 rebounds including 10 on the offensive end. Gabe D'Silva had 11 rebounds, 6 points, and 3 blocks. Anthony Rakauskas led the St. John's offensive charge with 8 points and Rob Vernava added six. With the win, St. John's improved to 6-2 on the season. 

St. John's Falls to Nemesis

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on St. Francis of Medford. St, Francis has shown to be a thorn in the St. John's side having eliminated them in the league playoffs and the EMass Final last year. They continued the streak as they handled St. John's for the second time this year. 

The St. Francis pressure defense caused numerous early turnovers which were converted to points on the offensive end. It took St. John's more than eight minutes before Maggie Barden made two free throws, by that time they were in a 14-2 hole. St. John's would then make a run to get back into the game. Kayla Kornitsky hit a long 3-pointer and (after a made Medford free throw), Olivia Matela hit a jumper to make it 15-7 with 4:04 left in the first half. But just as the comeback was in the making, St. John's went cold again. They could only muster a made free throw by Faye Parker and found themselves trailing 19-8 heading into half-time. 

St. Francis started the second half with a 10-1 run to push the lead to twenty. St. John's would play an even game with St. Francis the rest of the way but the lead was too big to overcome. Maggie Barden had eight second half points and Katie Watts added a 3-pointer but St. John's fell in a final of 42-22. 

Maggie Barden was the bright spot for St. John's with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Katie Watts added 5 points and Grace Carrigan grabbed 5 rebounds. St. John's has a full slate next weekend with 3 games including home games on Friday and Saturday.