November 30, 2013
At the St. John's Parish Center in Peabody. The St. John's of Swampscott Boys Bantams took on St. John's of Peabody looking for their first win of the season. It was close for a while but Swampscott opened the second half with a 14-0 run to put the game away and take a convincing 38-15 win.
It took just six seconds for Swampscott to take the lead as Oscar Hale scored on a feed from Ethan Weisse. But from there it became a defensive battle as neither team could score for the next four plus minutes. Ethan Weisse finally broke the drought at the 11:09 mark and Swampscott extended their lead with baskets from John Caponigro and Robbie Vernava. Peabody was havin a hard time even getting a shot off. Gabe D'Silva was blocking everything that came his way; he would finish the half with 5 blocks. Peabody finally got on the board but Kyle Fitzgerald answered with two made free throws to make it 10-2 with 7:45 left in the half. But Peabody would make a game of it with five straight points of their own to cut the lead to three. Nate Stern set up Kyle Fitzgerald for another basket to end the Peabody surge. Vernava followed on a pass from Cole Keough to push the Swampscott lead to seven. Swampscott would score one more time on an offensive put back by Kyle Fitzgerald and the half ended with Swampscott holding a 16-9 lead.
Justin Ratner got Swampscott off to a fast second half start. First he drove the lane and dished to Ethan Weisse and then lobbed an in-bounds pass to Gabe D'Silva to make it 20-9. Ethan Eichler followed with a lay-up and Oscar Hale scored after grabbing an offensive board. With less than 5 minutes gone in the second half, Swampscott now led 24-9. After a time-out, the Swampscott surge continued. Cole Keough came up with a steal and took it in for a hoop and then Kaden Quirk scored to make it 14 straight points to start the half. Peabody tried to get back in the game with a basket but Quirk answered with a jumper to make it 32-11 with 3:43 let in the game. St. John's of Swampscott cruised the rest of the way to finish off a 38-15 victory.
Defense turned the game in Swampscott's favor as their defensive pressure caused numerous turnovers. They also dominated the boards. Gabe D'Silva finished with 6 blocks along with 12 rebounds. Oscar Hale pulled down 10 boards to go along with 4 blocks and 6 points and Michael Fitzgerald also had 7 rebounds.
Kyle Fitzgerald led the way offensively for Swampscott with eight points. John Caponigro, Ethan Eichler, Kaden Quirk, and Robbie Vernava each added four points of their own. With the win, Swampscott evens their record at 1-1. St. John's takes on St. Pius of Lynn in their home opener next Saturday at the Swampscott Middle School.
November 24, 2013
At the Sacred Heart Gymnasium in Lynn, the St. John's Boys Bantams took on Sacred Heart of Lynn in their season opener. St. John's knew it was in for a battle as they were taking on a team that lost in the New England CYO Final last year. But St. John's hung tough and it came down to a last shot which fell just short as they fell 58-55.
St. John's struck first as Oscar Hale scored just eight seconds into the game assisted by Ethan Weisse. Cole Keough and Kyle Fitzgerald each hit jumpers which were matched on the other end by Sacred Heart but St. John's clung to a two point lead at the 10:48 mark. After Sacred Heart made 1 of 2 free throws, Michael Fitzgerald scored on an offensive putback and Kaden Quirk hit a corner jumper on a feed from Robbie Vernava to extend the St. John's lead to five. Sacred Heart came roaring back with a 9-2 run to take the lead. Justin Ratner evened the score at 14 as St. John's tried to withstand the Sacred Heart run. Trailing by three, St. John's made another push. Oscar Hale scored twice, on a drive to the basket and an offensive rebound sandwiched between a Gabe D'Silva hoop to help St. John's retake the lead at 20-17 with 4:02 left in the half. But St. John's was just holding off Sacred Heart. An Ethan Weisse jumper and a John Caponigro put back off his own miss kept St. John's with a slim 24-23 lead with 2:12 to go. Sacred Heart countered with a 8-0 run to finish off the half leading 31-24.
Most teams may have folded but St. John's would not be denied as they slowly clawed back into the game. Trailing by eight, they began their comeback. Anthony Rakauskas went coast to coast to cut the lead to six. Kyle Fitzgerald followed with a feed from Oscar Hale to make it 34-30. Justin Ratner made it 34-32 assisted by Rakauskas and suddenly Sacred Heart was in for a fight. They matched St. John's basket for basket and then slowly extended the lead back to five. With 7:02 left in the game, Cam O'Brien hit a long 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-42. Just less than a minute later, Cole Keough hit another 3-pointer to give St. John's a 45-44 lead at the 6:16 mark. Both teams matched baskets and St. John's maintained a slim 48-47 lead after two Ethan Weisse free throws. Sacred Heart answered with a 3-pointer of their own to take a 50-48 lead. Justin Ratner then found Kyle Fitzgerald for a bucket to even the game with 2:31 left. Sacred Heart looked to pull away down the stretch by taking a six point lead before a late 3-pointer by Ratner cut the lead to 58-55. After a missed Sacred Heart free throw, St. John's called a timeout with 5 seconds left and one last chance. St. John's got a good look from the left corner but a long three didn't fall and Sacred Heart escaped with a 58-55 win.
Oscar Hale led St. John's with 8 points. Gabe D'Silva grabbed 10 rebounds to go with 6 points and 4 blocks. Justin Ratner added 7 points and Kyle Fitzgerald, Anthony Rakauskas, and Ethan Weisse eached added six points each.
November 24, 2013
The St. John's Boys Cadets dropped their opener to Sacred Heart of Lynn. Jake McIntire led St. John's with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Ben Turner(9 rebounds) and McKeon Midland(8 rebounds) led St. John's. Max Pegnato had 4 points in the loss.
