HAMMOND – The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Boys’ Basketball Championship was held on Feb. 7 at Bishop Noll Institute. Students of various grade levels from around the diocese, including those from Chesterton, Crown Point, Merrillville, Munster and St. John, traveled to the high school in Hammond for a day of competitive and friendly competition.
All basketball teams, whether they were the runner-up or the winner, returned to their school with a trophy. Each player also received a medal as a reminder of his accomplishments during the season.
CYO Director John Curtain took time during the day to thank those at BNI and Andrean for hosting the championship games over the years. He shared his appreciation to Powers Health for their sponsorship. He also noted his gratitude for the referees, coaches, parents and others who assist with the program.
“It’s about effort, growth, teamwork and character,” Curtain told those gathered in the gymnasium. “These are young athletes who are still learning, and it’s a big moment for them.”
8th Grade
In a rematch of a CYO championship in the previous basketball season, St. Casimir and St. Patrick eighth-grade boys basketball teams took to the court. St. Casimir walked away with a first-place finish last year, and St. Patrick arrived at BNI hoping to earn the top spot this year.
In a battle under the basket for rebounds, the teams appeared to be closely matched for most of the game. Buckets made by St. Patrick’s Luke Ingersoll helped to keep the Irish ahead, even with St. Casimir’s Armando Pena and Preston Winters taking advantage of free throw opportunities. The Irish won 30-21.
After the game, St. Patrick teammates Edward Jackson and Declan Kilroy said they practiced hard before the tournament and really wanted the win.
“We were focused this year and more disciplined,” Kilroy said.
Geoff Laciak, in his last season as coach of the Irish team, agreed that the players seemed to want the first-place position more this year. He shared that the team had only lost two games in four years, so he was happy to see them finally win at the right time and come out on top.
“They are a good group of boys,” Laciak said. “I think they will grow up to be good adults, good fathers and hard workers.”
7th Grade
It was the battle of the Eagles for the seventh-grade CYO boys basketball final game, with St. John the Evangelist playing against St. Thomas More. The score remained close with St. Thomas More up by two points at the end of the first period, and then SJE leading by just three points at the half.
A fast breakaway by SJE’s Grant Martin, followed by another from Beckett Laabs, helped their team begin to pull further ahead. By the end of the fourth period, the scoreboard read 44-27 in favor of the Eagles from St. John.
SJE Coach Mark Laabs said, “St. Thomas More always plays us really well, so hats off to them, but our guys hung in there and really finished strong.”
Laabs stated that he was very proud of his team, calling the players a “great group of kids.” During the season, he watched them continue to improve their defense and get better at rebounding.
“Offense has always been our strength, but we needed to improve in those other two phases and they did that,” said Coach Laabs. “I’ve been really proud of them.”
Emerson Lukacs, of SJE, said he gave thanks to God that his team was able to come in first place.
“I think we played really good defense and offense, and controlling the court,” he said.
6th Grade
The sixth-grade CYO championship boys basketball game came down to the St. John Evangelist Eagles against the Aquinas Tornados. Three baskets early on by Lonzyo Holcomb Jr. helped the Tornados take an early lead.
SJE attempted to close the gap with Vincent Velez and Anthony Culijak, among other players, putting points on the board. The team attempted to slow down the Tornados with a series of fouls in the last minute of the game, but the Tornados stood their ground and went on to win 31-20.
Holcomb said, “We were talking on defense, moving our feet and active with our hands.”
Coach Vermetrius Hill stressed the Tornados team worked really hard both on and off the court this year. She said the students put in the effort to ensure no one on the team was placed on academic probation.
“They worked really hard academically as well as in the sport,” she said.
Hill also noted that some fifth graders were needed to step in and play at the sixth-grade level, further evidence of their dedication and perseverance.
5th Grade
The St. Mary Wildcats of Crown Point were undefeated during the regular season but did lose to St. Paul during a tournament in St. John earlier in the season. During Saturday’s CYO championship game in fifth grade, the two teams once again faced off in competition.
The Wildcats started the game strong, quickly scoring the first five points in the game. At halftime, the team was still ahead 12-4. A strong second half by St. Patrick that included several shots made by teammates Johnny Stanish and Jonny Radosevich started a come-from-behind win for the 17-21.
After the game, Coach Jon Radosevich complimented the players for their can-do attitude and for not giving up when they were trailing by eight points during the game. He continued to compliment them for continuing to hustle and improving their defense in the third period.
“Nothing is ever over until that last whistle, until that last noise by the shot clock,” he said. “We came back like this in so many games.”
Stanish, who played for the school last year as a fourth grader, said he felt that tough defense definitely helped them win the game.
“The second period was the hardest when we were down by 10 points,” he said.
4th Grade
The 4th-grade team of St. Patrick School played hard despite the absence of their head coach, Daniel Forgarty and his son, Daniel. In a close back-and-forth game, the Irish came up just shy of a win against the Tornados during the championship game.
Aquinas Coach Edwin Alcox said he felt the amount of confidence the players developed across the season helped them succeed in the final game.
He said, “They were just kids trying to learn how to play basketball and then once they understood, they graduated into being the basketball players we had out here today.”
Alcox stated that his players needed to believe in themselves to climb back from deficits during the game. He added that in the end, they were able to believe in themselves and keep possession of the ball.
Tornado Jerry Douts shared that he learned never to give up and gave credit to his teammate, Liam Holcomb, who he acknowledged was perhaps the best player on their team. He quickly noted, however, that it was still a team effort.
“If we didn’t have everyone working together, then we would have lost,” Douts said.
For more information about the Catholic Youth Organization, call (219) 736-8931 or visit www.nwicyo.org. More images from the basketball games can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/dioceseofgary/albums/
