St. Joseph’s basketball teams enjoy dominant victories

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The St. Joseph’s Celtics CYO basketball teams enjoyed fine action recently.

The girls fifth and sixth grade team beat Lady of the Lake, of Verona, 24-10. Despite having only five players, they never trailed in the game. The tenacious defense of Lila Clammer and Sarah Sullivan kept Lakes’ usually strong offense in check, leading to several steals and baskets for St. Joe’s.

All of the Celtics players scored, led by Lila with 8 points and Mary Browne with 6. Ella Chappelear and Elisabeth Froelich made some nice passes along with their buckets. 

The seventh and eighth grade girls team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of St. Thomas, of Bloomfield, 46-16. Maggie Meade led the Celtics with 6 points, six rebounds and five steals. Gabriella Ladd added 4 points and four steals. Phoebe Perlman, Olivia Roskin and Genet Sheridan also contributed to the scoring for St Joe’s.

The next day, the girls surged past St. Catherine of Siena for a 24-12 victory in Cedar Grove. The win moved St. Joe’s to a 3-1 regular-season record. Catherine Nolan recorded the first triple double of the year for the Celtics with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 steals, along with four assists. Genet Sheridan had 4 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Gabriella Ladd added 4 points and four rebounds. Olivia Roskin capped the scoring with 2 points and three rebounds. Momentum shifted the Celtics’ way in the second half driven by strong defensive performances from Rorygrace Thompson and Ava Maloney. 

The fifth and sixth grade boys team beat St. Catherine’s on Sunday, 30-7. Luke Weldon led all scorers with 13, followed by River Hack with 8. Remy Baptiste had five assists and twins Jack and Copper Zancolli had five rebounds each.