The Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament boys’ ‘A’ PeeWee basketball team defeated the Our Lady of Hope’s ‘A’ team Sunday, March 9, by a score of 32-31 to advance to the CYO Diocesan Tournament Final Four .
OLBS, which was the Flushing East regular season champion with a perfect 14-0 record, never trailed in the game and a buzzer-beating shot by point guard Joey Salerno to end the first half kept OLBS ahead by six points.
Hope fought a tough battle and came within one point with :09 left in the game. A turnover by OLBS gave the ball back to Hope with 5.1 seconds left on the scoreboard, but Hope’s final shot missed the mark, preserving the OLBS victory.
The grappling backcourt plays by Kevin Durkan gave OLBS the edge. The silent force and consistent play of Duke Guerra greatly contributed to OLBS’s offensive effort, while, as always, James Caffrey was a rebounding giant among a much bigger Hope front court.
Center and future NBA prospect John Comisky played his best defensive game of the season and Zee Drobles added to the win with a crucial bucket in the third quarter. The iron-clad defense of Joe Gonzalez proved impenetrable and Mike Pasini’s on and off the court enthusiasm and effort carried the team to the win.
