Girls and Boys Cadets Play for D2 Title on Sunday

St.John's Moves On

At the Breed Middle School in Lynn, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on St. Pius of Lynn in the Division II Semifinal playoffs. St. John's scored the first 11 points of the game and then held on for the win. 

The St. Pius defensive scheme was to pack it in and force St. John's to make outside shots, Olivia Matela made them pay with a jumper for an early lead. Faye Parker then came up with an offensive board to make it 4-0. Mary Miles followed with a steal on the defensive end and took it coast to coast for a 6-0 lead with 11:34 on the clock. After another defensive stop, Katie Watts was fouled taking a shot. She made the first free throw and then after missing the second, rebounded the miss and put it in to make it 9-0. Kayla Kornitsky ended the run with a bank shot to make it a double digit lead with 8:40 let in the half. From there, the two teams would play evenly. St. John's maintained the 11 point lead thanks to 3-pointers by Maggie Barden and Olivia Matela to head to the half with a 19-8 edge. 

St. John's would make sure there would be no early comeback in this game. Katie Watts fed Fiona Herring just 9 seconds in to extend the lead. Olivia Matela made 1 of 2 from the line and back to back steals led to baskets by Mary Miles and Matela. Just 2:29 into the second half, Miles made a free throw to finish off and 8 point run to make it 27-9. St. Pius increased the defensive pressure to slowly get the lead back down to 13 points but a Fiona Herring 3-pointer with 5:06 left in the game would all but put the game away. St. John's would score just twice in the final 5 minutes on baskets by Maggie Barden to hold off St. Pius for a 39-24 win. 

Maggie Barden led St. John's with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Olivia Matela added 8 points and Mary Miles had her usual solid game with 7 points, 9 steals, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. With the win, St. John's moves on to the Division II Championship game against St. Joseph of Medford on Sunday. 

Team Effort Leads to Big Win

At the Breed Middle School in Lynn, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on St. Adelaide of Peabody in the Division II Semifinal playoffs. Behind a solid team effort in which every player scored, St. John's had its biggest offensive output of the year for an easy win. 

In what has become a usual occurrence this year, it was McKeon Midland getting things started with an offensive putback for the first point of the game. Chris Legere then stole an inbounds pass and scored and it was off to the races from there. St. John's would score the first 17 points of the game led by baskets by Max Pegnato, Jake McIntire, Ben Turner, and Jake Goldman. St. Adelaide would get the lead down to twelve points before St. John's went on another run. Cole Cassidy got things started with a made free throw and then assisted on a Simon Keough basket ingniting a 15 point run. By the time it was over, St. John's led 33-7 going into halftime. St. John's had dominated defensively in the first half led by four defensive steals by Jake McIntire and three steals each by Cole Cassidy and Chris Legere. 

St. John's put the game on ice early as they started the second half with a 10-2 highlighted by a Zach Elwell bank shot with 12:23 left. All that was left was to play the game out from there as they rolled to victory. 

For St. John's, it was Jake McIntire playing his last game(he will miss next weeks's Championship game) and finishing with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. McKeon Midland finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds. With the win, St. John's moves on to the Division II Championship game against Sacred Heart of East Boston on Sunday.

Five Players Break 100 Point Barrier

With still a few weeks to go, five St. John's players broke the 100 point mark for the season. On the Girls Cadet side, Faye Parker(136 points) and Olivia Matela(124 points) accomplished the feat for the second time. On the Boys side, Jake McIntire had the 5th all-time highest scoring season with 178 points. Ben Turner has scored 110 points, breaking 100 for the second straight year. McKeon Midland became the latest player with 13 points against St. Pius to reach 104 points to go with 125 rebounds with one game left in his season. They join an elite group of past players including Randolf Thurman, Michael Zikianda, Donnie Weisse, Jaymie Caponigro, Alex Cormier, Chris Cameron, Elizabeth Weisse, AJ Baker, Travis Thurman, Hannah Leahy, Chad Nelson, Jack Fitzpatrick, Max Pegnato, Jake Goldman, Simon Keough, Michael Walsh, Noah Carreiro, Gavin Sullivan, Alex Derkautsan, Bailey Kennedy, Gabby LaRiviere, Frank Legere, and James Collins who have also accomplished this feat.