Sports
8th Grade B-Ball Team Champs With Undefeated Season
The eighth grade team swished a championship, and a perfect record, this year.
Photo (submitted): Front row (left to right): Ben Kateman, Sam Gray, Joey Caloiero, Jack Gray, Nate Rizzo, Teddy Chunias; Back row (left to right): Coach Margaret Chunias, Sam Anderson, Andrew Guerra, Jesse Sun, Braden O’Connell, Coach Paul Goepel
The Sudbury 8th grade boys basketball team capped an undefeated season with two wins over the weekend, winning the Metro West Basketball G5 Championship, beating Medfield 52-37 in the semi-finals and Berkley in the finals, 62-52.
“Both games epitomized the team’s overall performance this season: a tremendous team effort with tenacious defense, balanced scoring, and mentally tough play,” said Coach Margaret Chunias in a press release.
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The boys went into the championship games with a record of 16-0.
Andrew Guerra made some “clutch rebounds” in the game, and Braden O’Connell also pulled off some key steals and scored in the third quarter to climb back from an eight-point deficit at halftime.
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“Also sparking the team’s comeback was Joey Caloiero’s fierce defense and 4 critical points in the 4th quarter, as well as the determination of Teddy Chunias, who scored 10 points overall,” said the release. “Sam Anderson, Ben Kateman, and Jesse Sun repeatedly grabbed key rebounds, deflected passes and disrupted the opponents’ offense. Sam Gray scored 12 points including a 3 pointer in the 4th quarter which put the game out of reach. Nate Rizzo and Jack Gray showed great leadership and poise in directing the offensive and defensive efforts, as they’ve done all season.”
Sam Gray, in the semi-finals, scored 24 points, many of them on fast breaks.
“Nate Rizzo, Joey Caloiero and Jack Gray spearheaded a smothering press which resulted in several steals and fast break points. The “Big Four” of Sam Anderson, Jesse Sun, Braden O’Connell and Andrew Guerra prevented Medfield’s taller centers from scoring and sucked up rebounds like a vacuum cleaner. As they’ve done all season, Ben Kateman and Teddy Chunias made important but less noticeable contributions such as keeping opponents off the boards, grabbing loose balls, and making precision passes to their teammates for the score.”
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