MERRILLVILLE – Top boys basketball teams from among Diocese of Gary Catholic schools clamored for championship medals as an expanded field of teams competed at the annual Catholic Youth Organization hoops finals.
Bruisers bounced the ball and Eagles swooped in for rebounds at Andrean High School’s gymnasium on Feb. 9. Enthusiastic crowds cheered on their respective schools in a real playoff atmosphere.
As players lined up near their benches for their games, CYO director John Curtin began each contest with a call for good sportsmanship and fun. Prayers asking for God’s guidance began with the Sign of the Cross, also made by most guests in the bleachers.
The diocesan CYO band arrived for the junior high competition. Director David Little conducted the group of students from fourth graders through high schoolers in pitch-perfect performances of the National Anthem to start the games. Instrumental serenades of “We Are the Champions” greeted the eventual victors.
Among those selling tickets and handing out programs, retiring CYO secretary Patty Sharkey ensured an overall smooth event, welcoming a good crowd for the half-day of games.
Perhaps feeling the luck of the Irish, St. Patrick Catholic School of Chesterton teams were represented in fourth-, fifth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade finals. The showing was even more impressive considering there was technically no sixth-grade Irish squad because those athletes were combined with the fifth-grade team.
Eighth graders from St. Pat’s earned a spot in the finals reprising their last season, advancing to meet the St. Paul Catholic School squad. Among the Panthers was a sure-handed guard Nikola Kyres who, for his last game representing the Valparaiso school, scorched the Irish with 33 points and helped his team dip into the pot of gold, which was a collection of gold-tone CYO championship medals.
The Panthers powered to a 28-12 halftime lead by keeping the Irish offense off-balance with their effective 3-2 zone defense. Kingston Dawson led St. Pat’s with five points in the first half. Coming out of the locker room, the Irish established more parity and put up 18 more points by the time the final buzzer rang.
Tyler Hecimovich turned on the afterburners, notching 11 points and scrambling to be a disruptive defensive force. However, St. Paul’s 21 second-half points gave them the title crown.
Gracious in their 49-40 victory, St. Paul’s players modestly lined up to accept their medals. The Irish players consoled one another, looking glassy-eyed as they received their runners-up awards.
Panthers coach Juan Ortega managed a roster which was one player smaller than that of the Irish. His son Ethan Ortega was recovering from another sports injury, but cheered on his team from the bench.
“The best thing would have been for us to win, to have made more shots. They’re a good team and we struggled to beat them,” explained Hecimovich, who, as a soccer player, made his basketball debut this season. “We made it to the finals, and I’ll remember all the memories we made along the way.”
Kyres attributed his electric performance to his father’s encouragement. He was demure about his own accolades.
“We all practiced hard everyday, we play and get better,” said the Panther eighth grader. “It’s just about relying on each other and getting the job done.”
St. Casimir’s seventh-grade Bruisers showed they meant business, building a 23-16 first-half lead. Opponents St. Patrick answered with a 21-17 second half run led by the team’s leading scorer, Luke Ingersoll, who notched 18 points. The Irish did the math, too, and consoled one another on their second-best performance, losing to their Hammond rivals 40-37.
In perspective, St. Patrick coach Geoff Laciak believes that the Irish have a great many things of which to be proud, including the solid support of the parish family.
“I told the boys that we’ve played CYO for three years and we’ve lost two games by a total of five points,” he said of two finals losses. “Things just didn’t happen our way (today) and they hit some shots that went in and we didn’t hit the same shots.”
During the game, Bruiser coaches were very animated and made sure players heard key instructions from the bench. St. Casimir also filled Andrean’s gym with pep, fielding the tournament’s sole cheerleading squad.
“These kids have worked hard, some of them since the fifth grade, but we played up,” said coach Daniel Nevarez, pointing out some facilities improvements that he hopes for regarding the Bruiser’s gym. “They came a long way … and listened to our motto from day one: “Work hard, work smart and work consistent.”
In the battle of the Eagles, St. John the Evangelist clipped the wings of St. Thomas More, as the St. John squad defeated the Munster team 41-17. Undefeated in CYO play save for one forfeit, SJE handed St. Tom’s the only two losses of their season.
Coach Marc Laabs said his SJE squad had some built-in motivation. “We were (in the finals) last year and came up short, so the kids were determined and they really worked together,” he said. “We picked up a couple more players, so we were deeper - really, that was the difference today.”
In the fifth-grade contest, St. Patrick found their pot o’ gold, edging the St. John the Baptist Trojans of Whiting, 34-30 for the diocesan title.
Curtin also invited the youngest athletes in memory to participate in the basketball finals. Among the schools fielding fourth grade teams, St. Patrick met St. Paul and the Irish from Chesterton prevailed by a wee two points, winning 24-22.
Caption: Careron Wilkins (right) of St. John the Evangelist School passes the ball while being swarmed by St. Thomas More School defenders at the Catholic Youth Organization finals hosted on Feb. 9 at Andrean High School in Merrillville. In the battle of the sixth-grade Eagles, SJE of St. John clipped the wings of St. Tom's of Munster. This year's annual CYO tournament was expanded to include fourth-grade teams, making it a five-grade event. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
