Varsity Horsemen Take Catholic Basketball League Championship

The Horsemen of St. Helena galloped to victory Tuesday night and took the Varsity Catholic Basketball League Championship 56-32 over St. Ignatius of Loyola. Jordan Providence had a team-high 14 points, the only Horseman to score in double digits. Loyola did, however, take the JV Championship 36-30 over Our Lady of the Assumption.

The varsity game opened with a three pointer from Jordan Providence, followed by two free throws from Matthew Manning and then a two from Matthew Rodriquez. The Horsemen were leading by 11, 13-2 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a Providence buzzer beater, and they were still ahead by 11, 27-16 at the half. The cheerleaders gave a nice performance, and the Horsemen charged ahead and never looked back until they crossed the finish line.

Providence hit threes in both the first and third quarters and ended the season as the team’s number three scorer with 89 points. Francisco Mattei, the team’s number one scorer, had eight game points and finished the season with 165 points. Matthew Rodriquez also scored eight points and finished the season with 76 points. Sammy Lugo scored six of his seven points in the third quarter and finished the season with 54 points. Soraya Morales hit her five points in the second quarter and finished with 33 season points. Matthew Manning scored his four game points in the first half and was the only other Horseman to break 100 season points, finishing with 103 Dylan Carrisquillo hit a three and a free-throw in the first to end the season with 37 points, and Princess Mensah had four in the fourth to end the season with 19 points. Kameron Carrisquillo rounded out the scoring with a two in the fourth for ten season points. The Horsemen were 8 for 19 from the line, while Loyola was 7 for 13. Michael Rice had a game-high 21 points for Loyola, and he was the only player to score in all four quarters.

During the JV Championship game, OLA jumped out to an early 10-5 first quarter lead, but Loyola kept clawing their way back, and the game was always close. Each team had three threes. John DiNapoli had a game-high 15 points, including three threes, for OLA, scoring in all four quarters. Tommy Kelly and Alex O’Donnell each had team-high 11 points for Loyola, and O’Donnell also scored in all four quarters. Loyola was 5 for 8 from the line, while OLA was 5 for 9.

During Monday’s semi-final game, the Horsemen flew past the Immaculate Conception Eagles for a 45-38 win. Demetrius Doward had a game-high 24 points for the Eagles, while Mattei had a team-high 14 points for the Horsemen. They were the only players in double digits. For the Horsemen, Manning had nine points and Rodriguez eight, all in the first quarter. Lugo hit for six and Providence had four points. Mensa and Morales both contributed a bucket. The Horsemen were 7 for 21 from the line, while the Eagles were 10 for 19. Congratulations to the Horsemen for an exciting season.