Maplewood’s St. Joseph Celtics’ CYO Basketball Teams heat up play

MAPLEWOOD, NJ – Maplewood’s St. Joseph Celtics’ CYO Basketball Teams enjoyed fine action action.

The JV girls moved to 3-0 with a 15-12 win at home on Saturday over All Saints.  Summer Lonning led all scorers with 11 points, while Catherine Holt pulled in a season-high six rebounds and finished with two points and two steals. Amelia Lisco picked up three rebounds, while Paloma Duvergne, Peyton Hollis and Hannah Straub combined for four steals and six rebounds. Talia Baptiste rounded out the scoring with two points and handled the tenacious pressure of All Saints throughout the contest.

The JV boys blue Meola team won 23-18 against the other JV Blue St. Joe’s team on Saturday.  Going into the second half down 14-6, the Meola team came out strong. The tough defense held the Thompson team scoreless in the third quarter and outscored them in the second half 17-4. Liam Haley led the scoring with 8 and had 4 rebounds. Henry Aaron had 7 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Justin DeVomecourt had the team’s first 3-pointer of the season with an amazing shot, two foul shots, and contributed 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Declan Cavanaugh had a short jumper and a foul shot to complete the scoring. Aaron Budd played amazing defense the entire game and was a source of frustration for the opposing offense as he caused numerous turnovers. Cian O’Connor set amazing picks that allowed his teammates to score some great shots. Lukas Alexander showcased his usual relentless defense, and caused multiple turnovers on the team’s strong full-court press.

St. Joe’s White Pee-Wee team won in overtime 14-12 against the previously-undefeated Holy Trinity on Sunday. Holy Trinity came into the game averaging over 20 points a game but St. Joe’s stifling defense held them to just 12 points despite the game going into overtime. Ryan Leibensperger and Will Kostka made some clutch free throws in the final minutes while Harry Laskowski put the team ahead for good with a clutch basket late in overtime. Will Iozzio, Andrew Randazza and Riley Walsman outrebounded the larger Holy Trinity team and their stellar defense forced several key turnovers. Aidan Williams’ and Jack Clammer’s aggressiveness kept the pressure on Holy Trinity.

The Seventh Grade Varsity boys advanced to a 3-1 record  with a 29-11 victory over St. Theresa in Kenilworth. Buchi Amobi led the Celtics in scoring with 10 points, including a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter. Alexander Werbaneth and Nico Reyes contributed 7 and 6 points, respectively, with the remaining baskets by Damian Cataneo in the paint and an impressive jump shot by Alex Iozzio. The team-wide defensive barrier was aided by the tenacity of Ryan Nnoli, Kye Haniph and Ryan Barrett, holding St. Theresa to a single point in the second half.

The Fourth Grade boys won against St. Helen’s 31-29, improving their record to 3-0. The Celtics trailed by as many as 10 points and were behind 20-15 heading into the fourth quarter. But the Celtics erupted for 16 points in the final quarter as Kieran Dawkins and Jerry Browne each scored 7 points in the quarter on flawlessly executed pick-and-roll action. Dawkins finished with 13 points to pace the Celtics and Browne tallied 9 points. Harrison Zabik’s clutch jumper after an offensive rebound rounded out the fourth-quarter scoring. Flynn Larson added 4 points on a slick lefty layup and a jumper. Thomas Campbell drained a long jumper and Alex Szczepanski sunk a free throw to go along with several key hustle plays to spark the Celtics comeback. Tim Van de North also added a key steal for the Celtics.

The Sixth Grade Green team won two this weekend, defeating St. Michael’s 43-29 and Holy Trinity 29-16. The Celtics’ record stands at 4-0. Against St. Michael’s, Patrick Campbell (13), Mike Pirone (10) and Brendan Dawkins (10) all scored in double digits. Max Larson (6), Nicholas Alexander (3) and William Walsman’s free throw capped off the Celtics’ well-rounded scoring effort. Against Holy Trinity, the Celtics built a 13-point halftime lead. Campbell and Pirone hit double figures again with 10 points each. William Walsman added 5 points and some quality minutes at point guard. Danny Guarnieri was a rebounding force and he and Brendan Dawkins each added a basket. Guards Liam Laskowski and Nicholas Franklin added 3 steals each and Owen Holt had four rebounds for the Celtics.

The JV girls improved to 4-0 on Sunday with a 19-4 win over St. Helen. Talia Baptiste led all scorers with 10 points, while Summer Lonning contributed 8 points and 8 rebounds. Paloma Duvergne rounded out the scoring with one point and added an assist. Catherine Holt and Amelia Lisco cleaned up the boards with 6 and 3 rebounds, respectively. Peyton Hollis had two boards and two steals, Hannah Straub added two steals and a rebound, and Emile Clitus finished with a steal, a rebound and an assist.

The Third Grade boys lost a tough away matchup against St. Joseph Roselle. After falling behind 10-1, the team rallied behind Nathaniel Wack’s 4 second-half points and pulled to within 4 points of the lead. Derek Rounsavill and Darragh O’Connor fought hard inside for every rebound, and Eric DeVomecourt and Ryan Fay each scored 3 points. Some sharp outside shooting in the 4th quarter by St. Joseph Roselle led to a final score of 18-10.

The Sixth Grade Boys White team’s record improved to 3-1 following Sunday’s home victory against St. Michael of Union by the score of 22-15. Once again it was defense that carried the day, as the team recorded 10 steals, led by Derek Mingmongkol with 3, Jerimiah Cook and Charlie Gianone each having 2. Cook grabbed 10 rebounds, while Declan O’Connell added 5 (all in the second half). On offense, the Celtics’ scoring was led by Malachy Meyer with 6 points, Sebastian Pappas, Cook and Gianone each had 4, while O’Connell and Mingmongkol added 2 each. Callan Bauer had a pair of nifty assists and Cook had 1.