After vowing on the first day of the season to “go far together,” St. Mary’s sixth-grade basketball team, coached by Cozzi and Perfetto, entered the CYO Class A Championship game brimming with confidence.
St. Mary’s finished the regular season with 11 wins and 1 loss and earned their spot in the finals with two convincing wins in the playoffs.
St. Mary’s opponent was St. Agnes, Rockville Centre, also playing its best basketball of the season following its stunning upset of defending champion St. Anne, Garden City, in the semifinals. Both teams appeared tense at the start of the game and struggled on offense. The boys from St. Mary’s were able to jump to an early 3-0 lead due to several turnovers by St. Agnes. These miscues were triggered by St. Mary’s suffocating man-on-man defense led by Charles Balsamo and Donovan Barcelona. John Buerger extended St. Mary’s lead to 5-1 after entering the game with a fearless drive to the basket midway through the first quarter. St. Agnes remained patient in their 1-3-1 zone and when St. Mary’s open shots would not fall, St. Agnes clawed back and the first quarter ended in a tie 5-5.
St. Mary’s escalated their intensity in the second quarter and Hunter Panzik fearlessly diving out of bounds to save a loose ball was emblematic of St. Mary’s spirited play. Despite incredible effort, St. Mary’s shots still would not go in early in the second quarter and the game remained tied midway through the period. Joey Terenzi, Brendan Trotta and Peter Vorillas entered the game determined to prove that St. Mary’s missed shots were an anomaly. Terenzi triggered a quick turnover leading to a layup and patiently rotated the ball on offense leading to two beautiful jumpshots by Trotta. Not to be outdone, Vorillas matched his teammates with a basket of his own, enabling St. Mary’s to end the half on a high note with a 13-7 lead.
St. Agnes would not go quietly and was determined to prove that their two losses to St. Mary’s in the regular season were a fluke. St. Agnes escalated their intensity in the third quarter with a trapping zone. Despite Trotta’s continued hot shooting, St. Agnes bested St. Mary’s and clawed back to tie the game 15-15 in an epic defensive struggle.
St. Agnes started the fourth quarter with their big lineup led by Anthony Lods and Manu Alford. Despite being battered and outplayed in the third quarter, St. Mary’s would not be intimidated. Chris Diskin shook off reinjuring his shooting hand in the third quarter and inspired his teammates with a steal and a layup as the fourth quarter commenced. Another quick steal and layup by Matt Perfetto extended St. Mary’s lead to four points. Displaying the heart of a champion, St. Agnes responded by out rebounding the smaller boys from St. Mary’s, cutting the lead to two points with three minutes left in the game.
Despite being outsized, Cozzi and Magee led a cheer of “closeout” during a timeout and responded with a fearlessness and defensive intensity rarely seen in hallowed McCann Hall/Wiest gymnasium. First, Cozzi drew a charge which stifled St. Agnes’ building momentum. Balsamo, Cozzi and Magee built off of this change in momentum with intense play and relentless rebounding on the defensive and offensive boards.
Matt Perfetto ran St. Mary’s offense like a seasoned veteran in the face of St. Agnes’ frenetic defensive effort and two of his skip passes led to successful jumpshots, enabling St. Mary’s to push its lead back to four points with two minutes remaining. Following a final cheer in the huddle of “Together,” Cozzi secured another courageous rebound and Magee calmly made his free throws in the last minute to secure the final victory for St. Mary’s 28-25. Anthony Lods led St. Agnes with 8 points and 15 rebounds. The win pushed St. Mary’s final record to 14 wins with only 1 loss and extended their record over the past two seasons to 27 wins and 3 losses.
Congratulations to the boys and coaches on outstanding sportsmanship and effort.
