SJF wins competitive battle against St. Barnabas to grab league crown

by Scott Fredericks

The two best seventhgrade basketball teams in the Southside Catholic Conference met in the league’s title game, and the squads didn’t disappoint the huge crowd at Br. Rice.

St. John Fisher (SJF) and St. Barnabas battled in a seesaw affair that featured several dramatic momentum shifts and lead changes.

The top-seeded Falcons trailed 40-36 with just over two minutes remaining before finishing the game on a 7-0 run to capture the tournament championship, 43- 40, on March 6.

“We knew coming in that it would be a heck of a ball game. Barnabas is a great team, and Joe Mueller does a great job coaching them,” said SJF Coach Rich Harrigan. “The neighborhood rivalries really add some spice to these games. This league has been around for about 50 years, so there is a lot of tradition. Winning the title means so much to these kids. The kids played hard, and it feels great. St. Barnabas gave us everything we could hope for in a championship game.”

The teams entered the final quarter in a 31-31 deadlock, but the Buckeyes grabbed the momentum with a 6-0 spurt to start the quarter. Connor Finn had a pair of baskets, while Jack White added another. Standout point guard Christian Jackson assisted on all three buckets.

The Falcons answered with five straight to cut the lead to 37-36 with 2:30 remaining following a put-back by Matt Mitchell.

On the ensuing possession, Jackson was fouled, and following the first freethrow make, Harrigan was whistled for a technical foul. Jackson made two more free throws to push the lead back to four with 2:19 left.

St. Barnabas had possession of the ball, but a steal and lay-in by Dan Paluch swayed the momentum back to the Falcons. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw, making it 40-39.

Moments later, Paluch found Connor McAlilly open on the wing for a three that gave SJF a 42-40 lead with 1:10 remaining.

The Buckeyes had several good looks in the waning moments, but Cullen Walsh, the smallest player on the floor, was able to pull down a carom in traffic with 24.9 seconds remaining for SJF.

He was fouled and made one free throw to make it 43-40.

“The kids panicked a little bit when we fell behind, so we just tried to tell them relax because there was plenty of time,” said Harrigan. “Danny and Matt made some big plays on offense, and maybe our smallest player made the biggest play of the game by getting a big rebound and making the late free throw.

“These kids have worked hard all year, so the finish wasn’t a surprise to me.”

The Buckeyes called timeout and then had a couple of good looks at a three, including one by Jackson at the buzzer, but it fell short.

“We had a blast playing in this game,” said Mueller. “We had some shots that we were happy with that just didn’t fall. They battled hard, and I’m super proud of them. We are a little disappointed about the result, but there’s no shame in how we played.”

Team members of SJF are Matt Ryan, Colin Rook, Marty Bechina, Sean Burnette, Dan Paluch, Shane Clifford, Matt Mitchell, Cullen Walsh, Connor McAlilly and Kevin Lipman.

The Buckeyes are Christian Jackson, Duffy Kelly, Zack Hayes, Jack White, Jack Pappas, Connor Finn, Brendan McNally, Pat Sweeney and Dan Sweeney.

This is part of the March 10, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

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