The win improved St. Robert’s…
Tyler Ryan and Pete Scianna each had 13 points apiece to lead St. Robert Bellarmine’s 5th-grade basketball team to a 39-32 victory over St. Kevin's in the first round of the CYO playoffs held at St. Gregory’s Sunday night.
The win improved St. Robert’s record to 8-7 and pits the team against top seeded St. Clare’s in the semifinals of the CYO playoffs this coming Sunday.
St. Kevin’s got an excellent performance from top scorer Julius Wells, who netted 20 points, but St. Robert’s 1-3-1 defense held his teammates to just 12 points combined in notching the victory.
Point guard Sean Escobedo scored seven points, had five assists and hit 5-of-8 free throws, guard Brian Flynn had five points and Joey Miccio hit a big free throw and played great defense to pace St. Robert’s.
Ryan, who is St. Robert’s leading scorer averaging 9.3 points per game, was perfect in the fourth quarter, hitting four straight free throws and Scianna had an important three-point play down the stretch to seal the victory.
The game see-sawed back and forth after St. Robert’s broke a 15-15 halftime tie by outscoring St. Kevin’s 12-2 in the third quarter. St. Kevin’s mounted a furious comeback behind Wells in the fourth quarter, but St. Robert’s hit 8-of-11 free throws (15-of-26 for the game) to end any upset hopes.
Other members of the St. Robert’s 5th-grade squad that have contributed to this fine season include Mike Gallagher, Kevin Garcia, Stephen Florio, Chris Santora and Vinny Iannece. The team is coached by Jerry Iannece and Dominic Scianna. Gerry Escobedo also served as assistant coach this week in the win over St. Kevin’s.
