Celtics Score Major Victories — and Get an Introduction to the Big East

The St. Joe’s Celtics Varsity 8th grade boys basketball team eked out a 43-40 victory at home against St. Helen’s on Sunday. 

The Celtics led the entire contest before St. Helen’s hit three 3’s in the 4th period to pull within one point. Garland Barham then hit 2 free throws with 3 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Celtics. Barham had 10 points and 9 rebounds.  Joe Sanchez, Julian Henry, and Xander Saling were instrumental in breaking St. Helen’s press. 

Sanchez led the Celtics with 19 points and Henry had 10. Pierce Bonhomme had a big day with 6 rebounds; Hogan Dwyer and Daniel Zona each had 5. Michael Muench, Daniel Callaghan, and Brandon Kurek each contributed to a tough defense. The Celtics record for the season improved to 8-2.

The Celtics JV girls were back in action this weekend with 2 victories, improving their record to 8-2. On Saturday, the girls squared off against OLP from New Providence in a lopsided victory. Connie Labat led the team with 19 points and received help on the scoring end from Lilly Young and Juliana Saling with 4 points each. Mary Cronin, Lauren Kret, and Jennifer Kret each chipped in a basket a piece. Defensively, the team was impressive on the boards with everyone pulling down at least 1 rebound and Kristen Stoica and Lauren Kret leading the team with 5 rebounds each.  The team also played tenacious defense in the first half matching up against OLP as they struggled to get the ball across half court. 

On Sunday, the Celtics JV girls took on St. John’s in a very physical match-up with the Celtics coming out on top. Tough man-to-man defense put the Celtics up early and they never looked back. Juliana Saling led the team with 9 points and a team high 6 steals. 

Five other lady Celtics contributed offensively to the well-balanced team scoring effort: Lilly Young (4), Connie Labat (2), Olivia Smith (2), Kristen Stoica (2), and Jennifer Kret (2). It was another excellent effort by the entire team on the glass and our two 6th graders and tallest Celtics lead the team in rebounding. Kristen Stoica led the team with 11 rebounds and Olivia Smith contributed 10 boards. 

The Celtics Pee Wee Girls had a busy weekend! On Saturday, the team had the opportunity to scrimmage during the half-time of the Seton Hall Women's basketball game against Georgetown at Walsh Gymnasium. The team had a great time and provided the Seton Hall fans with a fun half-time show. The crowd immediately got into the game and went wild when Grace Petroccia scored the only basket of the scrimmage.

The Pee Wee Girls played again on Sunday against St. John's of Clark. In an exciting game, the Celtics finished a few points behind, losing the game 14-9. A free-throw by Zoe Gill put the Celtics on the board in the first quarter. Baskets by Sarah Johnson, Grace Petroccia, and Abby Garaban kept the Celtics close through the last minutes of the game. Rosie Chisolm led the team with 8 rebounds.

Defensively, the Celtics were led by Abigail Valente and Ellie Rousanville keeping St. John's out of the paint and by Cece Clark, Hudson Hassler, and Anna Gomez at the top of the key.

The Celtics 2nd grade co-ed team from was back in action with a double dip this past weekend. On Saturday, the team faced St. James of Springfield and came out on top with a 24-2 victory. This time out, the junior Celtics were led by Tommy Coutinho who was always in the right place on the court scoring 8 of his 12 points in the first half. 

“Before the game,Tommy told me he had pancakes for breakfast” said Coach Becky Young, “and that must have been the good luck he needed to have an amazing game today.” (That was what Ben Szczepanski had last week when he scored several buckets!) It was a well-rounded scoring effort with 5 players making baskets – Devin Brown and James Young both scored 4 points a piece and Cole Latimer and Ben Szczepanski chipped in a bucket each. On the defensive end, James Young and Tommy Coutinho led the team pulling down 4 rebounds each. 

The 2nd graders turned around and were back on the court Sunday afternoon to take on SME Academy. The Celtics improved their record to 3-0-1 with another victory outscoring SME 6-2. This outing had a very balanced scoring attack with buckets from Devin Brown, Tommy Coutinho, and James Young. Cole Latimer and James Young cleaned up the boards pulling down 5 rebounds a piece. 

One of the most impressive statistics for this game were the 2 assists from Kathleen Wack and James Young to their teammates for baskets – you don’t get that a whole lot at this level! Coach George Brown commented, “This was an outstanding defensive effort by our kids this weekend only giving up 4 points in 2 games.” 

Weekend of Jan. 22/23:

The St. Joseph Celtics Varsity 8th grade boys lost to undefeated SME at home this past Sunday, 56 to 47. The contest was even until midway through the third period when SME’s press caused several turnovers and they capitalized with deadly long-rang shooting. Joe Sanchez played well for the Celtics leading the team in scoring with 18 and adding had 4 assists. Pierce Bonhomme played well inside with 7 points and 4 boards. 

Julian Henry had the early hot hand adding 6 points. Dalen Thompson went down with injury which hampered the Celtics’ efforts. Garland Barham and Hogan Dwyer both had excellent rebounding days; Barham 8 and Dwyer 5. “We played well for the first half but SME showed why they’re undefeated” said Ass’t Coach Hank Zona. “We need to take better care of the ball to beat the elite teams.” The Celtics 8th grade boys fell to 7-2 on the year.

The Celtics JV 5^th grade boys continued their winning ways last Sunday, defeating St. John's 27-23. The game was played at a frantic pace with the lead changing multiple times. Casey Thompson, Luke Burke, Will Perlman, and Joseph Mastrodonato led the offensive charge with solid defense from Liam Garland, Darius Plummer, and Brenden Lackey. The team's record is now 6-1 for the season. The boys play first-place St. Helen's of Westfield, Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Celtics JV 5th and 6th grade girls took on Our Lady of Peace (OLP) from New Providence on Saturday. The Celtics jumped to a big lead in the first half when OLP stumbled in the face of the Celtics’ defense. The girls improved their record to 6-2 overall with the 25-5 victory. 

The team was led by veteran 6th grader Olivia Smith scoring 5 of her 7 points in the first quarter and pulling down 5 rebounds for the game and 5th grader Lilly Young scoring 6 points and a season-high, team-leading 10 steals. Connie Labat (4 points, 3 rebounds), Jennifer Kret (4 points), Lauren Kret (2 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 steals), and Cristina Ricci (2 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals) rounded out the rest of the scoring for the Celtics. Emily Brown played great defense with 4 steals and 3 rebounds.

Commenting on the game Coach Becky Young said, “We played tenacious defense today and every girl had at least one steal. They are getting better with each practice in anticipating passes and being able to step into the lanes to intercept the ball.” The JV girls are back in action this weekend Saturday at home at 3pm and Sunday at St. John’s in Clark at 1pm. 

The Celtics 2^nd grade co-ed team played its second game of the season on Saturday at home versus St. James of Springfield. The Celtics touted a full roster and everyone had the opportunity to play. The game was a tight battle in the first half with the teams going into the locker room at half-time with a tie of 4-4. The Celtics took control in the second half, shutting down St. James and holding them to no points in the second half.  Ben Szczepanski came alive in the second half putting up 10 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. 

The coaches watched from the sidelines in amazement as one of the smallest Celtics put on a scoring clinic. The Celtics also had big contributions from Cole Latimer (6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks), Tommy Coutinho (4 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal), and Devin Brown (2 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal). Maura Donnelly and Nicholas Aaron were busy on the boards pulling down 2 rebounds each, and James Young and Sophia Rousanville also contributed on defense with quick hands and grabbing a few steals. The 18-4 victory takes the little Celtics to a 1-0-1 record. Come on out and see this amazing 2nd grade co-ed team in action this weekend both Saturday (11am) and Sunday (5pm) at St. Johns in Clark. 

St. Joseph's CYO is a shared parish ministry for the parishioners of St. Joseph's in Maplewood and Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange. For more information about the CYO program you can visit their web site at www.eteamz.com/stjosephcelticscyobasketball.