Athletes of the Week - Anthony and Madi

Written by AD Mike Thomas
Nov 21- Nov 28

Girl Athlete of the Week

The widget girls didn't have a team two years ago, so last year was the first time that any of the then 3rd or 4th graders played on a basketball team. They played hard and competed well all year, but their lack of experience hurt them record wise. With a year of experience under the belt of the 4th graders, and the youthful energy and enthusiasm of the 3rd graders, this year perhaps bodes a little better for the widget girls. Our girls opened the season last Thursday night at Assumption against Blessed Sacrament. We lost a thrilling game 10-8, with seemingly countless St Rose shots rolling around the rim before falling out. The Raiders were led by Madi L., Mia G., and Brooklin L. The athlete of the week this week for the girls is Madi. Madi is one of the nicest, most respectful girls in the school. Madi is one of the best students in the school. Add to those accolades an improving and promising athlete, and Madi truly embodies everything good about St Rose. Madi ran the point for large parts of the game, she scored half of our points, and she was a leader on the floor all game long.

Boy Athlete of the Week

Last year, our varsity boys A team competed in CSAL division 1, and we had a tough time during the regular season. We had a good team, but we had no height, and we were routinely competing against 6'2 and 6'3 players, and we had a hard time matching up. We finished well though, and everyone started buying into the idea that we had to run, and pressure the other team all game long in order to be competitive. Last week, we competed in the Blessed Sacrament pre-season tournament, and after three games, we found ourselves champions. A huge part of our success last week was Anthony M., and he's the first male athlete of the week for 2011-2012. Last year, Anthony was probably our best baseball player, but he didn't really get a chance to shine in basketball. I knew he was a good athlete and that he could shoot a little, but I hadn't yet seen him put it all together. Now I have. Anthony scored 8 against MPB in our first game, 8 against a very tough Blessed Sacrament squad in the semis, and then led the Raiders with 12 in the championship game against SVDP. Anthony hit three threes during the tournament, including back to backers in the first quarter against SVDP. He also did everything else. Anthony ran the floor non-stop, made a bunch of extremely difficult catches and finishes in traffic, played great defense, played high and low in the zone, and rebounded against much taller players. Most of all, Anthony played as hard as he could at every aspect of the game, and did everything he was asked to do. Anthony's performance in the first week of the season bodes extremely well for the rest of the year.

St. Rose Wins Blessed Sacrament Tournament

St Rose’s boys and girls varsity basketball teams competed in Blessed Sacrament’s annual kick-off tournament from 11/14-11/20. The girls won their first game over St John Baptist, before falling in consecutive games to Christ the King. At the end of last year, the girls varsity team had no 8th graders, so we returned a strong core this year, and we added a very athletic group of incoming 7th graders as well. Daizja, Gaby, Naomi, Mireya, and Luz are joined by Marla, Capri, Janay, and Joanna. The difference between last year and this year was apparent immediately in our first game against SJB. Coach Moo has his girls playing a very aggressive defensive style, and the girls came out firing on all cylinders. With the defensive intensity of Mireya, Capri, Janay, and Joanna setting the tone as the highs in the 3-2, and the rebounding of Luz and Gaby complimented by the scoring of Daizja, Marla, and Capri, this year’s Raiders team is definitely fun to watch. Through three quarters, SJB could muster only 5 points, and although SJB started getting some better opportunities in the 4th quarter, we still held on for the comfortable victory. Our next game came against Christ the King’s division 1 team, and with somewhat tired legs, we fell, but we still got valuable experience against a top opponent, especially as we try to learn how to handle the ball against pressure. Our third game came against Christ the King’s seventh grade, and it was a see-saw battle all game. We were down 2 with a few seconds left, and Coach Moo set up an inbounds play that yielded a very good look, but alas, the ball rimmed out. Players, coaches, and parents all came out of the tournament encouraged though, and the future looks bright for our girls program.

The boys draw had four division 1 teams, one division 2 team, and three division 3 teams. Our boys opened against MPB division 3, and it wasn’t an equal talent match up. What was encouraging though, was the balanced scoring. Returners Julian, Aaron, Rolando, Tony, and Anthony scored 15, 14, 14, 12, and 8 respectively, and newcomers Mario and Santi each scored 4 points in their first varsity game. We squared off against a talented Blessed Sacrament division 1 team in the semis, and it was a nail-biter all game long. BSS got up 11-5 after one, and still held a six point lead, 20-14, at half. We evened the score 28-28 after three, and then went on to eke out the victory 37-34. Although we had trouble getting good looks and knocking them down for most of the game, we fought extremely hard, and never gave up, or got down on each other. Last year, we had a lot of close losses, and it was good to see this group overcome adversity right away, and fight for all 40 minutes. Julian drew a ton of defensive attention and manpower, and although he only scored 2 points, he played the whole game, got a bunch of rebounds, and allowed our other players to get open looks. Aaron didn’t have any field goals, but his seven free throws in the second half were absolutely crucial. Aaron also played all 40 minutes, and did the majority of the ball handling duties. Rolando chipped in two buckets in each half, as he makes the transition to more of a forward this year from his guard position last year. Tony and Rolando both fouled out, which meant that incoming 7th graders Mario and Santi finished the game on the floor. This was a huge spot for them, and they acquitted themselves very well, fighting for rebounds, loose balls, and steals, and playing confidently with the ball on offense, as they get used to our systems. The players of the game though, were Tony and Anthony. Tony hit three second half threes, on his way to a game high 10 points. Anthony played extremely good and hard defense, ran the floor well, made some very hard catches and finishes in traffic, hit a big third quarter three that made the defense extend and respect him, and generally played a great game. After our BSS win, we had a couple days off to rest before the championship game. The championship game saw a familiar trend from last year, as St Vincent de Paul had two six footers. We’re pretty used to giving up a bunch of inches though, and Julian, Tony, Rolando, Mario, and even Anthony played low at times, and battled for rebounds all night long. Our scoring was once again very balanced, at 12, 10, 10, 10, and 7. SVDP played almost exclusively a 2-1-2, with lots of focus on the top, so Aaron had to be patient, but after a quarter of distributing, he started finding his opportunities, and SVDP had to pick their poison. Still, it was only a 6 point game mid 4th, before we went on a big run to put the game away. The final was 49-27, and it yielded a very nice pre-season tournament win, that in turn yielded the newest addition to our trophy case. Hopefully, more are on the way.