Matela's Hot Hand Burns St. Joe's

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on St. Joseph of Medford. St. John's was led by their sharp shooting guard, Olivia Matela as she scored 18 points to secure the win. 

Olivia Matela put St. Joseph on notice early with an outside jumper to start the game. Medford was collapsing on St. John's Center, Faye Parker, and this opened up the outside. Maggie Barden made them pay with a foul line extended jumper to make it 4-0 early. The pace was frenetic early until Matela took over. She hit her first 3-pointer off a Mary Miles pass then found her way inside for an offensive putback. After a defensive stop, Matela drained a long 3-pointer from almost mid-court. St. Joseph would hit two late baskets but heading to the half, St. John's held a 19-10 lead. 

Things changed early, St. Joseph came out flying. They scored on their first four possesions to cut the lead to 19-18. With the control of the game on the line, Maggie Barden came through with another foul line jumper to push the lead to 21-18 with 10:38 on the clock. Mary Miles then came up with a defensive rebound and took it end to end to make it 23-18. Miles continued the run with an alley oop pass to Faye Parker for a 25-18 lead, and then scored again to make it 27-18. Miles had her hand in stopping the Medford comeback with 6 steals and constant defensive pressure. On defense, Faye Parker was preventing St. Joseph from even getting a shot off. Parker blocked 7 shots down the stretch. Meanwhile, Fiona Herring in her first game of the year after an injury, tossed in three points. Sasha Balchenkoff finished the game off with a late basket as St. John's pulled away to take a 45-27 win. 

Olivia Matela led St. John's with 18 points. Despite being held to single digits in scoring, Faye Parker had a double/double with 17 rebounds and 13 blocks. Mary Miles was all over the court as she finished with 9 points, 6 steals, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. 

Parker Powers St. John's

At the Cummings School in Winthrop, the St. John's Girls Cadets took on St. John's of Winthrop. Behind 19 points from Faye Parker, Swampscott took the Battle of St. John's with a convincing 49-16 win. 

Faye Parker got things started with an offensive putback for the first points of the game. Winthrop would answer back to even the score before Swampscott would take over. Mary Miles got things started with a made free throw to retake the lead. The onslaught continued, Parker scored off a rebound, Olivia Matela hit a jumper, Miles made two free throws, Parker scored again, Christina Rogers tapped one in, and Maggie Barden scored on a feed from Jillian Flanders. With only 5 minutes gone off the clock, Swampscott had taken a commanding 16-2 lead. Winthrop answered back with baskets on its next two possesions to cut the lead to 16-6. After matching baskets, the pendulum swung back towards Swampscott as Sasha Balchenkoff drove the length of the court followed by two more Parker scores. Olivia Matela followed with a 3-pointer and Swampscott closed out the half with a 12-0 run to head to the half in total control with a big lead. 

Winthrop scored 4 of the first 6 points of the second half as they looked for a comeback. Mary Miles matched them with a bank shot from the right side and Chrissy Rogers then found Faye Parker open on back to back possessions. By the time Jillian Flanders drove for a basket and was fouled, Swampscott had scored 12 straight points, to put the Winthrop team away. 

For St. John's Faye Parker led the way with 19 points. Sasha Balchenkoff had her strongest game so far with double figures in rebounds with 12. Maggie Barden added 8 points and 9 rebounds while Gracie Carrigan and Chrissy Rogers each grabbed 7 rebounds in the 49-16 route.

St. John's Continues Rolling Along

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Boys Bantams took on St. John's of Peabody. St. John's continued its total team game as every player had at least a point or rebound in the win. 

St. John's came out on fire. Gabe D'Silva, Ethan Weisse, and Oscar Hale scored for a quick 6-0 lead. Peabody couldn't catch a break, Justin Ratner tossed a desparate pass while falling down that landed in Oscar Hale's hands for another hoop and then scored himself to make it 10-0. After a Peabody free throw, Michael Fitzgerald and John Caponigro scored to make it 14-1. In the early going, it was Ethan Weisse with 4 steals to lead the Swampscott defense, as the game wore on, Ethan Eichler stepped up. He had 4 steals and led a late Swampscott charge. First, he hit a jumper, then scored on a feed from Kaden Quirk, and then added a bucket off an inbounds steal. He finished the half be assisting on a Kaden Quirk hoop as St. John's held a 24-10 lead. 

There would be no Peabody comeback on this day. St. John's went on a run to polish them off. Gabe D'Silva and Simon Keough each had 4 points, Ethan Weisse added three, and Justin Ratner, Oscar Hale, and Michael Fitzgerald each scored during a stretch of 15 straight points to take a 39-10 lead with 9:58 left in the game. Both teams matched baskets to close out the game with a final score of 49-19 in favor of Swampscott. 

Gabe D'Silva led St. John's with 8 points and 9 rebounds. Ethan Eichler and Oscar Hale each added 6 points. Ethan Weisse had 5 points and 5 steals. Michael Fitzgerald, Kaden Quirk, and Rob Vernava each chipped in with 4 points apiece. With the win, St. John's improves to 7-2 on the season.

Mack Doubles Up On St. A's

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on St. Adelaide of Peabody Red in a Tuesday night match-up. McKeon Midland had a double/double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the St. John's victory. 

St. John's got off to a quick start. Jake McIntire was in the thick of it early. He made two free throws, came up with a steal and fed Brendan Bradley for a basket, and then finished with a basket of his own to make it 6-0. McKeon Midland followed with a putback and Ben Turner made 2 of 4 free throw attempts to make it 10-0. Swampscott continued to pour it on. Chris Legere fed McIntire and then McKeon Midland scored three straight times. Peabody was in shock. With 8:03 left in the half, they found themselves in an 18-0 hole. The teams played even down the stretch and a late runner by Jackson Byrne sent St. John's into the half with a 27-9 lead. 

St. John's continued its dominance as Max Solone scored the first four points of the half which ended a 10-0 St. John's run. The game was never close from there as Swampscott closed things out for a 50-26 win. 

In addition to Midland's double/double, Jake McIntire added 12 points and Ben Turner had 12 rebounds. Jackson Byrne had a solid all-around game with 6 points and 5 steals.

Late Comeback Falls Short

At the Swampscott Middle School, the St. John's Boys Cadets took on St. Adelaide White of Peabody. St. John's jumped out to an early lead but a late first half surge by St. Adelaide provide the cushion needed to prevent a late St. John's comeback and secure the win. 

Ben Turner struck first to give St. John's the lead. Peabody answered with 6 straight points to take the lead. St. John's would them pound the ball inside. Back to back baskets on low post feeds to Ben Turner and McKeon Midland evened the game back up. Peabody regained the lead and looked to take command by pushing the score to 16-10. For St. John's the low post game kept it close. Turner drove and found Midland open for a basket and foul. His made free throw cut the lead to 16-13. Max Solone followed up with a jumper with an assist from Simone Keough to make it 16-15. After a defensive stop, it was McKeon Midland again off an offensive miss to give St. John's a 17-16 lead with 4:23 left in the first half. But just when things were looking up, St. Adelaide cam roaring back. They took late advantage of St. John's turnovers and went on a 13-3 run to head into the half leading 29-20. 

Jake McIntire fed Ben Turner to start the second half and make it 29-22 but Peabody countered with a 10-2 run. McIntire ended the run with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 12. Swampscott slowly tried to works its way back. Jackson Byrne hit a jumper, Jake Goldman came up with a steal and fed McIntire for a basket, and with 7:27 left in the game St. John's had closed to within eight points at 42-34. Jake Goldman and McKeon Midland matched Peabody baskets to make it 46-38 with 5:21 on the clock. But it was too little too late. Peabody closed out the game with a 12-2 run to take the victory in a game that was much closer than the final score of 58-40. 

For St. John's, McKeon Midland continued his strong season with another double/double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ben Turner added 14 points and 6 rebounds in the tough loss.