On Saturday, January 13, the Gate of Heaven CYO 9th grade boys’ travel teams battled it out at the Walsh Center, and Coach Matt Hogan’s squad eked out a hard-fought vic- tory, 56-48.
Gatey Blue, coached by Hogan, took an early lead, 25-5, but Coach Sean Monahan and Mike Alessan- dro’s team, Gatey White, weren’t ready to give up. They stayed focused and cut the deficit to nine at the half, 33-24. In the second half, Gatey White went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to four, 35-31 But then Paddy Craddock (11 pts./2 treys) and Chris Fitzgerald (7 pts./2 treys) both knocked down a pair of three-pointers, to give Gatey Blue, a 44-31 lead. But the game was far from over as momentum shifted once again. With 52 seconds left on the game clock, Gatey White, led by sharp- shooter James Buzzell (20 pts./3 treys), Jake Harrison (18 pts.), and Conor Strictland (8 pts.) cut the deficit to three, 51-48. Crad- dock and Fitzgerald then found themselves at the free throw line and Coach Hogan’s team survived the ordeal. To round out the scoring for Gatey Blue, Jack Matthews netted 13 points, James Arlauskas had 11 points, while Braeden Ken- nedy contributed 10 points.
Afterwards, in the intermediate boys’ tilt, Gatey (7-1) cruised to a 75-36 win against Saint Chris- tine’s of Marshfield. For Gatey, Jonathan Walsh scored 18 points. Danny O’Neill had 15 pts., Pat McAloney had 10 pts., and Jake Donovan finished with 8 pts.
Coach Greg Lally has a talent-laden team that should do well in the post season.
