St. Adalbert Girls, Hope Boys Named Champs
The 2014 Glendale Kiwanis Peewee Tournament fourthgrade championship games held at St. Pancras School of Glendale on Sunday, Jan. 19, featured face offs between St. Adalbert and St. Stan’s in the girls’ game and a showdown between Our Lady of Hope and St. Pancras in the boys’ final.
The girls’ game marked the fifth time St. Adalbert and St. Stan’s met on the court this season, with Adalbert 3-1 against the Maspeth school. St. Stan’s, which has won its last seven games planned to add another notch to its belt, but was defeated by its rival 24-11.
Adalbert’s girls have been buoyed all season long thanks to their defense. Going into Sunday’s games, the girls only lost one game all season . That one loss, however, was to St. Stan’s.
St. Adalbert got off to a hot start after tipoff. The first quarter ended with the team leading, 11-1.
Their defense was a gamechanger. St. Adalbert used a trap defense to create turnovers and force the other team to take tough shots.
It seemed anytime St. Stan’s would take the ball down the court; one of St. Adalbert’s players would force a turnover and convert.
St. Adalbert, led by Dara McCabe and Hannah Finnerty, won the game in a lopsided victory with a final score of 24-11. The two girls combined to score half of their team’s points. Paige Monahan, of St. Stan’s, also had a strong game scoring eight of her team’s 11 points.
McCabe took MVP honors, Sunday after scoring 28 points throughout the tournament. Alexa Bowler (St. Adalbert) and Monahan each won the Sportsmanship award for their teams.
“We appreciate the opportunity to play in the event,” said St. Adalbert coach Lou Pagnotta. “Thank you to St. Pancras and the Glendale Kiwanis Club.”
The boys’ game, held directly after the girls’ contest, was a hardfought matchup between the 7-4 Our Lady of Hope (OLH) and the 7- 3 St. Pancras.
OLH came into the game heavily favored after averaging 31 points per game throughout the tournament. They made good on expectations, winning 21-17 against the Glendale squad.
The last time St. Pancras and OLH played, the game ended with a 16-point victory by Hope.
The teams—led by Michael Solimando and Marco Battaglia of Our Lady of Hope and John Joseph Paterno of St. Pancras—were neck and neck throughout the matchup.
Hope had an edge on St. Pancras throughout the game, but the crowd was rocking the gym cheering the athome Pancras squad to mount a comeback.
Heading into the final quarter of play with Our Lady of Hope leading 16-9, St. Pancras rallied to within 2 points of Hope, but Solimando never let them pull ahead and indeed showed composure leading Our Lady of Hope to victory despite the opposing team’s loud fan base.
Solimando and Battaglia combined for 17 points for Hope. Solimando took home the tournament MVP award, while Battaglia and John Paterno received the Sportsmanship award.
