By KEVIN DEVLIN and SEAN MONAHAN
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Gate of Heaven CYO midget house league champs were crowned at the Walsh gym, as the BiIl Linehan Club won for its third consecutive title by defeating the Blasi’s Café Club, 14-7.
The Linehan Club emphasized a strong passing game on the offensive end and a tight, disciplined zone defense. The team’s passing attack was led as usual by point guard, Alex Polena, spreading the ball around. Ryan Shields, Ryan McDonald and Pat Harmon scored four points while Tristin Pecivich contributed two.
Led by coach Scott Bell, the Blasi’s Café Club surprised everybody with a late surge at the end of the season. Their defense was strong in the second half of the year, propelling them into the finals. But their shots weren’t falling in the finals. For the Blasi’s Café Club, Erik Dhamo, Terry Markos and Chase Bell scored two points apiece while Kevin Nedreka added a free throw.
The Bill Linehan Club is coached by Greg Lally and assisted by James and Sean Schallmo.
“They were a pleasure to coach,” Lally said. “They got better as the season progressed and since they all knew one another, it was easy for them to depend upon each other during the games.”
The Gatey CYO Instructional League annual all-star game was played right after the midget league championship tilt. This all-star game was another thriller with the Red all-stars holding off the Blue all-stars, 10-9. For the red all-stars, Robert Cabral and Liam Colton had three points apiece, while blue all-star, Rocco Blasi, netted seven points. The Blue all-stars were coached by Ivan Fuentes and Mike Donovan and assisted by seventh-graders Tommy White and Jake Harrison. The Red all-stars was coached by Mike Bolstad and Chris DiMaggio (BC High seniors) and assisted by sixth-graders, Owen Donovan and Conor Strickland.
This was a chance for these lads to show off the skills they learned during the last 17 weeks. Not only did they learn the proper way to pass, shoot and dribble, they also learned how to play a basic zone defense and offense. They were fortunate to have great coaches every Saturday morning.
The Blasi’s Café Club is coached by Scott Bell. The players are Erik Dhamo, Henry Gailunas, Aiden Colton, Kevin Nedreka, Mario Blasi, Chase Bell, Thomas Germain, Rocco Blasi and Demitri Markos.
Pictured are Gate of Heaven CYO volunteers Mike Bolstad, Chris DiMaggio and Commissioner Sean Monahan. The Red all-stars are Dimitri Markos, Max Atchue, Robert Cabral, Finn Cawley, Liam Colton, Gerard DeRocher, Diego Fuentes, Trace McFarland, Nicholas Miani, Trey Miller, Thomas Quinlan, Ray Polena and Kyle Greeley.
Pictured are volunteers Tommy White, Jake Harrison, along with Coach Mike Donovan. The Blue all-stars are: Jackson Ballard, Rocco Blasi, Ryan Collins, Tommy Gillis, Logan Labreck, Cole Ratican, Bobby Rehm, Jalen Weatherhead, Sean Costello, Gavin Ekman, Sean Finlan, Vincent Ling, Andrew Misset, Jake Rae, Ian White, Jason Yebba and Jake Greeley.
