Varsity Boys Advance to Sweet Sixteen

Free throw shooting is usually a strength of this year's Raider team, but they connected on only 7 of 29 in the second round of the CYO playoffs. That, combined with 5 for 24 shooting start in the first half, should have spelled doom for St. Rita. Instead, they came out and scored 30 second half points to defeat Resurrection of Los Angeles, 44-29.

The Sunday win combined with Saturday's victory has advanced St Rita to the Sweet Sixteen of the 64-team CYO Playoffs and improved their season record to 21-5. The boys won their first round playoff game on Saturday when they defeated St. Mathias of Huntington Park 43-17. The Raiders played with their full starting five for the first time since December, allowed St. Mathias to hang tough as they struggled to find their rythem. In the second half, the scoring picked up and the defense stayed tough, allowing the Raiders to pull away.

Tyler Rix returned to action to score 23 for the weekend, while Michael Amerio tossed in 22 points. Noah Gohrick with 14 and Jo Jo Nofal with 13 rounded out the top scorers for the Raiders. Next up is a trip to Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance to face an outstanding second-seeded Beatitudes of La Mirada.

Varsity Boys Win in Triple Overtime

Two weeks ago, the Varsity Boys Basketball Team won in double overtime to clinch a playoff berth. Today they won in triple overtime to snatch second place in league from Assumption of Pasadena. The boys have played 18 straight games without their starting five intact. The last week was especially tough as the Raiders lost all three games to drop into third place. Today's win boosts their record to 19-5 and hopefully improves their playoff draw.

The game featured an intense effort by the boys. They broke out of a rebounding slump to grab 34 boards for the game, with 18 of those going to Mike Amerio. Mike did not have his best shooting game, but he played intense defense, stealing the Gator inbound pass to seal the win in the third overtime. Noah Gohrick, playing in only his fourth game since Christmas had a team high 12 points as he hit three 3-pointers to give the Raiders a one-point lead at the half. The key to the game however was freethrow shooting. After missing thirteen freethrows in a seven point loss to Dana Middle School, the boys hit 13 of 17 in this game. Sean Espinosa came up big hitting 7 of his eight tries.

Playoffs start this Saturday (Feb 25) at a site and time to be determined by CYO.

Varsity Boys and Girls Make CYO Playoffs

The Varsity Girls will travel only to La Salle High School for playoffs. There, they will meet Delores Mission of East LA at 9 am. The girls finished tied for third with Assumption of Pasadena, suffering only 2 point losses to both Assumption and Co-Champ St. Philip. They also defeated the other Co-Champ, Holy Family. If you are coming to watch, there is an admission fee for the playoffs. The cost is $5 for adults, but 8th grade and below are free. (Complete brackets are on WWW.CYOUSA.ORG

The boys qualified for playoffs with three games to go. They sport a 17-2 record, but it didn't come easy. Playing without two key starters (Noah Gohrick - hip flexor and Tyler Rix - ankle), the Raiders were extended to double overtime before coming away with a thrilling 51-50 victory over Holy Redeemer Middle School of Montrose. The game was one of the most thrilling in school history. Holy Redeemer knew a loss would eliminate them from playoff contention and they played like it. Fortunately, the Raiders played equally hard.

Mike Amerio played through some pain after being clobbered in the nose and being removed to stop the bleeding. He returned help secure the win by scoring his season high 28 points to go with 13 rebounds. Brendan Love scored 8 for the second consecutive game as he played Tyler's center position. The big surprise was the play of Johnny Clarizio off the bench. His 7 points included two key shots down the stretch, as well as 2 clutch free throws. His biggest contribution however, was his tenacious defense. Chris Dal Ponte was cool as could be as he sunk both of his free throws with the game on the line. Sean Espinosa was equally cool under pressure, hitting two key shots as well as two free throws. Sean was also responsible for setting the offense against the Crusaders trapping defense. Jo Jo Nofal only scored one point, but played some very good defense against the Crusaders. The boys begin playoffs on February 25 at a time and place to be determined. The Raiders play at ICA before taking on Assumption and Holy Family who are in a three way tie for first with us.