John Pirone sinking the second of two free throws that tied the game. Getting ready to rebound are Lukas Alexander and Henry Aaron.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — St. Joseph’s Celtics basketball teams showed continued improvement in the eighth week of the Union County CYO Basketball season.
St. Joseph’s CYO is a shared parish ministry for the Catholic parishioners of Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange and South Joseph’s in Maplewood. St. Joseph’s has 15 teams for girls and boys in Grades 2-12.
St. Joseph’s fourth-grade white boys’ team lost a close game against St. Helen’s of Westfield, 23-19. The Celtics jumped out to an early lead, but couldn’t withstand a late charge by St. Helen’s. Jeremiah Cook, Declan O’Conner, Charlie Giannone, Connor Ward and Malachy Meyer led a balanced scoring attack. Sebastian Pappas, Conor Kagel, Ronan O’Beirne, Callan Bauer and Sean Kagel helped on defense and on the boards. The team is showing great improvement, having lost to this St. Helen’s team by double digits in a December matchup.
In the high school boys’ red division, St. Joseph’s was able to put one into the win column with a win over St. Helen’s of Westfield, 59-35. A slow start was offset by the tenacious defense of James McMguire and steady post play and rebounding by Jack Carson, Dylan Karten and Justin Wozniak. Off the passing of Michael Burke and Tomek Budzyn, Dante Muccigrosso caught fire and led all scorers with 25 points. St. Helen’s responded with full-court pressure. But the ball-handling of Patrick O’Leary and Joseph Sanchez was too much for St. Helen’s to handle.
On Saturday, Jan. 17, St. Joseph’s fourth-grade boys’ green team picked up its fourth league victory in an impressive performance, highlighted by the team’s best ball movement and defensive tenacity of the season. The Celtics led Holy Trinity of Westfield 9-7 at the half. Max Larson and Nicholas Franklin ran the show at point guard for the Celtics in the first half, setting up baskets for Brendan Dawkins, Patrick Campbell and Mike Pirone. The Celtics used a 10-2 run in the third quarter, led by Nicholas Alexander, who contributed four points, five steals and five rebounds, to pull away from Holy Trinity.
Forwards Danny Guarnieri and Owen Holt each contributed two steals and combined for seven rebounds. Patrick Campbell played excellent defense, holding the opponent’s top scorer without a basket in the second half. Liam Laskowski’s skillful ball-handling and tenacious defense in the second half helped the Celtics pull away for a 24-14 victory. Dawkins led the way with nine points, Pirone chipped in seven, as well as eight rebounds, and Campbell and Alexander rounded out the scoring with four points each.
On Sunday, Jan. 18, St. Joseph’s second-grade team played its fourth game of the season against St. John’s of Clark. The Celtics turned in their most dominant performance of the season. Impenetrable defense, crisp passing and sweet shooting are quickly becoming trademarks of the Celtics’ second-graders. Steven Copeland led the Celtics by scoring four points, all in the first minutes of the game and corralling eight rebounds. Six Celtics players registered points, including Flynn Larson, who scored on a nice assist from Harrison Zabik and on an offensive rebound putback. Kieran Dawkins chipped in four points, several steals and a highlight film-worthy crossover dribble. The play of the game was turned in by Katie Callahan and Alex Szczepanski when Katie found Alex for a thrilling third-quarter buzzer-beater on a perfectly executed inbounds play. Katie also contributed three steals as her ball-hawking defense prevented the opponents from getting good chances to score.
In the fourth quarter, Fiona McGowan found Luke Davenport for a basket on a beautiful pass and Jerry Browne converted an offensive rebound for the final Celtic hoop of the game. Guard Thomas Campbell was a dual-threat notching two assists and two steals and Timothy Van der North and Will Walsh teamed up in the power forward and center spots for the Celtics, contributing six rebounds and several steals.
St. Joseph’s pee wee boys blue Meola team beat the St. Agnes Gold team 18-16 in a down-to-the-wire victory. It was a great team effort with contributions from each of the eight players at the game. The team showcased great passing, pick setting, and ball-handling. John Pirone had eight points, including sinking two foul shots in the fourth quarter, to tie the game. He also had four rebounds and four steals. Henry Aaron added six points, eight steals and three rebounds to the effort. Liam Haley contributed four points, including the winning shot, with less than a minute left. The team was tenacious, with Cian O’Connor, Lukas Alexander, Cade Minerley and Justin DeVomecourt causing multiple turnovers with their aggressive defense. Matthew Corr was strong under the boards, snatching up four rebounds and grabbing two steals.
St. Joseph’s junior varsity girls’ team grabbed another win against All Saints from Bayonne to improve its record to 5-2 with a score of 16-13. High scorer Annabel Callahan contributed nine points with players Sophia Rounsavill, Audrey Marek and Molly Gray each adding a basket. Strong defense contributors included Lily Ramos, Kathleen Wack, Kate Meyer and Sophia Noll. Guards Lila Price, Katie Wilkes, Darcy Pearlman and Emma Carsuso were key players executing a press in the second half to keep the game close. The Celtics take on St. Helen’s of Westfield next Saturday.
St. Joseph’s junior varsity boys’ blue team had a busy weekend of basketball, with two games against stiff competition. On Saturday, Jan. 17, the Celtics lost 17-4 to undefeated Koinonia Academy of Plainfield. It looked promising early as St. Joseph’s used a stingy defense and timely baskets from Nico Reyes and Alexander Werbaneth to take a 4-2 lead at halftime. Reyes scored the first basket of the game by creating some space at the top of the key and draining a jump shot. Werbaneth made a layup towards the end of the second quarter, thanks to a terrific interior pass from Buchi Amobi. In the second half, it was all Koinonia, who unleashed a full-court press, leading to several turnovers and layups in transition. St. Joseph’s had trouble getting into its offense as Koinonia cut off the passing lanes and flustered St. Joseph’s with its pressure defense.
St. Joseph’s didn’t have much time to dwell on the loss as the junior varsity boys’ blue team got back into action on Sunday against Our Lady of Peace of New Providence. St. Joseph came up on the short end, losing 30-22. The Celtics had the momentum early on. Making crisp passes in the half-court offense and being opportunistic on the defensive end of the floor, St. Joseph’s raced out to a 16-10 lead at halftime. Buchi Amobi keyed the surge, nailing a few jumpers from just inside the foul line. Amobi led the team in scoring with six points. A pair of fourth-graders also helped the cause. Brendan Dawkins created a number of scoring opportunities for his teammates by pushing up the floor and finding the open man. Michael Pirone was a force in the paint, grabbing several rebounds on the offensive and defensive glass. Nico Reyes also made a solid contribution, teaming up with Dawkins to disrupt Our Lady of Peace on the defensive end of the floor. But Our Lady of Peace took control in the second half, by using its own full-court pressure defense to get a number of steals that led to layups. St. Joseph’s could not get into a rhythm on offense as Our Lady of Peace made it difficult for the Celtics to get the ball up court.