St. Mary’s 6th-grade CYO (Cozzi/Perfetto) was back in action this week in their first home game of the season. Their opponent was Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park. OLV’s tough 2-3 zone defense initially confu
sed St. Mary’s and the boys fell behind early in the game. Midway through the first quarter, St. Mary’s was sparked by tenacious full-court defense led by Joey Terenzi and Donovan Barcelona which resulted in several baskets by Peter Vorillas and Matthew Perfetto. Alex Cozzi and Charles Balsamo continued to apply pressure in the second quarter and St. Mary’s took the lead after several baskets by Dillon Magee and John Buerger. The first half ended with St. Mary’s comfortably ahead 22-9. The boys from OLV would not go quietly and a string of baskets cut the lead to 7 points in the third quarter. However, strong rebounding and crisp ball movement led by Brendan Trotta and Hunter Panzik stabilized St. Mary’s. The boys from St. Mary’s settled down and coolly rebuilt the lead resulting in a final score of 44-27. This pushed St. Mary’s season record to 4 and 1.
The 7th-grade (Flynn/O’Connor) team played a very balanced and well-executed game on both ends of the floor versus a talented St. Aloysius team. Offensive production came from each player. Scoring was led by Patrick Jarvis, Teddy Moulhas and Steph Kapetanos with support from Aidan Doherty, Keller Flynn, Jordan Gangaram, Nick Vulpis and Ricardo Zaldivar. Jack Bertrand hauled down key rebounds and played tough on a defense that caused numerous turnovers. A team effort produced an exciting 40-39 victory.
On Saturday, St. Mary’s 7th grade (Berger) dominated the whole game against undefeated St. Joseph’s of Garden City and won 37-28.
The St. Mary’s team was led by starters Ahmad Crowell with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, Henry Kolyer with seven points and eight rebounds, Aiden Cole with seven points, Jared Berger, coming off the bench, with five points and Max Schwenk with five points, each sparked the team. Cody Stephen and John McCarthy each had two points. Ben Glauner and Nick Petroso played a solid game all around.
On Sunday, the CYO Team played against the undefeated Our Lady of Peace of Lynbrook. After being down by ten points at half time, St. Mary’s battled back to take a four point lead against OLP early in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, St. Mary’s got into foul trouble and eventually succumbed to OLP. A heartfelt game played by all St. Mary’s team members with Crowell leading the team with 10 points, ten rebounds and five blocks. Leading the comeback was Cole with six points and Koyler with three points and seven rebounds and all-around hustle and play under the rim.
