STA seniors won the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball tournament March 1. In the championship game, the STA ‘Crocs’ competed against the team that they lost to in the championship last year.
“We lost [in the championships] last year to this team so we knew what we were facing but we were still nervous,” said Crocs member, senior Claire O’Neill. “And we knew they had some huge girls, like three girls over six feet tall, but we brought pump-up music and Ellen [Gude] sent out a long pump-up text to everyone. Everyone was still nervous though.”
According to cyojwa.org, CYO is an organization dedicated to sponsoring athletic events that uphold honesty, fair play and Christian and moral character. The CYO basketball season typically consists of nine games and begins in late December and ends with a tournament in March.
Throughout the season, the Crocs were a semi-serious team, according to O’Neill.
“We all wanted to win but our first priority was having fun,” said O’Neill. “A lot of teams didn’t like us cause we’d laugh a lot and have fun but whenever [the game] was close, we would get intense.”
The team the Crocs competed against in the championship was made up of girls who mostly attend St. Thomas Aquinas High School, according to O’Neill. The Crocs won 37-32 after being ahead by 15 points in the first quarter.
According to O’Neill, all of the players on the Crocs were extremely excited when they won.
“We were psyched and shocked we pulled it off,” said O’Neill. “It was awesome, we were celebrating and jumping up and down and everything.”
The Crocs
Record: 8-1
Grade of players: senior
Tournament result: champion
Roster:
- Claire O’Neill
- Mimi Koppen
- Marie Brancato
- Julia Barnett
- Brady Essmann
- Mollie Pointer
- Mary Warwick
- Ellen Gude
- Gaby Wilson
- Maggie Dunn
- Meagan Kelly
- Megan Wilkerson
- Claire Hanson
Source: Claire O’Neill
The Barracudas
Record: 2-7
Grade of players: senior
Tournament result: lost in first round (weather cancelled game so higher seed advanced)
Memorable anecdote:”At the end of both seasons Mr. Miller, our coach, throws us a sports banquet. We all go out to dinner and he gives us medals and banners and everything. And he like has a speech and story about everyone. I got most improved. That was a good moment.”
Roster:
- Ellie Hart
- Jordan Miller
- Lane Livers
- Sarah Kindscher
- Courtney Watkins
- Kayla Loosen
- Katie Sharp
- Katleyn Devine
- Kristina Strader
- Allison Pericich
- Jessica Luber
Source: Ellie Hart
Knife Battle
Record: 4-2
Grade of players: junior
Tournament result: “We got jipped. It was ridiculous. The first round the weather was bad so they cancelled the game and flipped a coin to determine the winner and we lost.”
Plans for next year: “Next year we’ll definitely have a team. And we’ll be more hard-core. We’re going to win for sure [next year].”
Memorable anecdote: “There wasn’t just one great moment but every game the team would walk onto the court with music playing and get pumped-up. Then we would get in a huddle and kind of sway. That was fun. It became tradition.”
Roster:
- Alexa Fowlkes
- Cassie Redlingshafer
- Kate Passantino
- Molly Kenney
- Cele Fryer
- Alex Christian
- Riley Ueker
- Sam Cusumano
- Cate Castleman
- Catherine Arensberg
- Megan Schrader
- Kirsty McGhie
Source: Alexa Fowlkes
The Matadors
Record: 2-7
Grade of players: junior and senior
Tournament result: “We couldn’t play [in the tournament] cause the game was cancelled because of bad weather and then they just took the higher seed. We didn’t even get to play a game.”
Plans for next year: “We’re still deciding if we want to. We want to see how many girls still want to play. I definitely want to though.”
Memorable anecdote: “Our first win was big. We won by like 20 points and it really pumped us up.”
Roster:
- Zoe Busy
- Meghan Harper
- Amy Wendland
- Shelby Langtry
- Stacy Hymer
- Jessica Bullington
- Anna White
- Sarah Schulte
- Claire VanAsdale
- Emy Gatapia
Source: Zoe Busy
She Wolves
Record: 4-5
Grade of players: sophomore
Tournament result: lost in semifinals
Plans for next year: “I think we’re planning on playing again. Same team. Same everything.”
Memorable anecdote: “Playing our rival team. They were STA girls and called themselves The Tribe. It was really fun cause we knew everyone and we called it a friendly competition but we we were all really fighting.”
Roster:
- Katie McCombs
- Hannah Wolf
- Caroline Connor
- Allison Fitts
- Brianna Casey
- Brie Sandridge
- Clancie Beisser
- Mary O’Leary
- Meg Nulton
- Marianna Messerli
- Ava Jurden
- Mary Cate Feuerborn
- Kelly O’Byrne
- Theresa Murphy
Source: Katie McCombs
The Tribe
Record:3-6
Grade of Players: sophomore
Tournament result: lost in first round
Plans for next year: “Yeah we’re going to make a comeback [next year].”
Memorable anecdote: “Whenever someone took a crazy shot or a three and made it we would all make Indian noises for like two minutes. Those were probably the best parts of the season.”
Roster:
- Taylor Migliazzo
- Meka Kelly
- Kathleen Vogel
- Anna Meyers
- Rachel Caffrey
- Kathleen Devine
- Maddy Ismert
- Katie Patterson
- Patricia Smith
- Margot Livers
- Mayme Marshall
- Caitlin White
- Madison Phillips
Source: Taylor Migliazzo
Visitation (7)
Record: 3-6
Grade of players: freshmen
Tournament result: lost in first round
Plans for next year: “Yeah we talked about doing it again and we want to so we probably will.”
Memorable anecdote: “Once we played against a team and we were beating them by a lot and, we weren’t goofing off, but we were not really trying and the parents [from the other team] got really mad and were yelling at us and our coaches.”
Roster:
- Meghan Lewis
- Nicole Sakoulas
- Scout Distefano
- Sophie Bono
- Samantha Adams
- Keara Miller
- Kelly Stokes
- Margoth Mackey
- Danni Porter
- Natalie Winterman
Source: Nicole Sakoulas
