St. Joseph's of Maplewood Celtic's Off to a Fair Start

In a six-game season opener for the Catholic Youth Organization basketball teams ended with three victories and the same number of losses. The season kicked off this past weekend on Nov. 29 and 30 with the third and fourth grade girls, fourth grade boys and varsity girls teams racking up enough points to win their games.

The Celtic’s third grade boys blue team opened the season with a 15-9 loss at home against St. Agnes. Henry Aaron and Liam Haley scored against a tough St. Agnes defense. John Pirone and Cian O’Connor showed strength under the boards grabbing rebounds. Ian Webber and Justin DeVomecourt handled the ball skillfully at point while Cade Minerley and Declan Cavanaugh played a strong defense against St. Agnes shooting.

The Celtic’s third and fourth grade girls team opened the season with a 12-10 victory over St. Helen’s of Westfield. Leah Connell scored 6 points, Jamie Fardin scored 4 points and Neve McGowan scored 2 points.

The Celtic’s fourth grade boys green team started off the season with an 18-12 victory over St. Helen’s of Westfield. All eight available players contributed to the win. Max Larson’s early bucket, on an assist from Mike Pirone, staked the team to an unrelinquished lead. Brendan Dawkins (7) and Mike Pirone (6) led the team in scoring and set the tone with nice passing and aggressive defense.

Danny Guarnieri also chipped in 3 key points while Patrick Campbell and Liam Laskowski displayed impressive ball-handling skills. Nicholas Franklin’s ball-hawking defense created several turnovers that led to scoring opportunities. Owen Holt helped the Celtics control the backboards, limiting the home team’s scoring chances.

The Celtic’s fourth grade boys white team opened the season at St. Helen’s of Westfield on November 29. The game, which was close through most of the third quarter, ended in a 28-10 loss for the Celtics. Declan O’Connell led the team with 8 points.

The season opener for the Celtics sixth grade boys team featured a rematch of the fifth grade final against St. Agnes from Clark. The Celtics started strong, leading 15-6 at the half. But a late comeback from St. Agnes propelled them to a 22-21 victory. Nicholas Aaron and Derrick Baptiste led the Celtic’s scoring while Mathew Morales anchored the Celtic defense.

“It was the challenging game we expected. I could not be more proud of the effort of the sixth grade Celtics,” Coach George Brown said. “We’re looking forward to the re-match next month.”

The Celtics varsity girls seventh and eighth grade team opened the season on Sunday Nov. 30 with a 43-26 win against St. Theresa of Kenilworth. The Celtics took an early lead utilizing a full court press that generated multiple turnovers and led to several fast break baskets. Lead scorers were Abby Garaban (22), Merry Meyer (8) and Sarah Johnson (8). The Celtic’s great defensive effort was led by Ellie Rounsavill, Sarah Johnson, Hudson Hassler and Zoe Gill.