The St. Joseph’s 4th-grade boys team (White Division) put together a strong season with a 7-3 league record, plus two wins in Mary Mother of God’s Turkey Tournament.
St. Joseph’s finished third (7-3) in the CYM 4TH A Division, and had a lot of fun doing so.
The Blue Storm started with two early-season wins in the MMOG tournament and went on to defeat two MMOG teams twice each, St. Bernard’s, St. Francis, Immaculate Conception Clinton, St. Ann’s & Blessed Sacrament against three losses.
Top victories were a 20-19 OT thriller at St. Bernard’s, a late game shot and victory at IC Clinton (20-18) and a sound triumph over Blessed Sacrament of Martinsville, 20-16. The team also had two additional double-figure wins and won five different games by five points or less.
The Blue Storm outscored its opponents, 251-216. Leading the team in scoring were Griffin McCaffery, Joey DiIorio, Shane Donoghue, Dominick Monsorno and Ben Spitzer, with offensive contributions from Evan Sabo, Graham Ross, Nick Rindgen, Paul Steele and Nick West. Chris Demetrio did a solid job in the guard position while Zach Conklin was a force on the boards with several rebounds.
Against Blessed Sacrament, St. Joe’s jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never surrendered it, holding onto a 4-point win. Monsorno, Donoghue, Sabo, McCaffery, Rindgen, DiIorio and West played well, attacking the basket along with strong defensive play, as shown by several steals in the game. Demetrio and Ross moved the ball well against a zone defense and were key contributors. On defense and on the boards, Conklin, Spitzer, Steele & led the way for the Blue Storm.
Against St. Bernard’s on the road, McCaffery and DiIorio provided much of the firepower in a hard fought 20-19 OT win with several clutch free throws, steals and late-game baskets. Donoghue also nailed a key jumper on the baseline in the 4th quarter.
In the IC Clinton game, once again on the road, the Blue Storm trailed by seven points heading into the 4th quarter. Team play and aggressive defense of Ross, Spitzer, Steele, Rindgen, West, Sabo and Conklin proved to be a difference-maker, along with Monsorno’s offensive contributions in the 3rd quarter.
With the game tied and 14 seconds to play, DiIorio nailed a baseline shot to give the Blue Storm its first lead of the game. On the other end, Donoghue had a key block in the lane in the final seconds to help seal the game.
McCaffery was the playmaker of the game with several points, assists and rebounds which IC Clinton could not slow down in the 4th quarter.
