St. John the Beloved Caps Off Perfect Season with St. E’s League Title
By Jim Charles
(posted 03-07-10)
The St. John’s JV (5th/6th grade) Eagles finished off an undefeated season, but not before having to endure a very challenging Title Game from Holy Angels. The St. John’s offense just could not get in-gear until the third quarter. And even so, the final quarter began with the two teams knotted up in a 15 –15 tie. In the final frame, the Eagle offense really got rolling, outscoring Holy Angels 14 - 7, and closing out the game.
Coming up huge on the day was Gab Julian, who scored all 12 of her points in the second half, including nailing a pair of technical foul free-throws. But, the game was no walk in the park for Julian, who started off the game cold. Anyone could see she was not happy with her own performance in the first half. Still, to her credit, she let the game come to her. A decision was made to switch Gab to point guard, and almost from that moment on, the Eagles’ fortunes took a better turn. Her shots started falling, and by the end of the game, the cold start was a distant memory.
Also coming up with a good game was Kaitlynn Wolff who had 7 points. Kaitlynn is a natural team leader with a lot of on-court tools. I can count on one hand how many 6th graders can make a hard bullet pass while running full tilt forward and leaping in the air. Wolff is one of these.
For the Angels, Taylor Garbowski (6 points) and Taylor Abshagen (5 points) paced the attack.
The St. E's League is the premier league for 5th & 6th grade teams in New Castle County and probably the State of Delaware. It features a high level of competition and slightly different rules than "regular" CYM JV. It is also independent of CYM, although all teams come from Catholic parishes.
This season just finished saw the introduction of a second tier to the campaign. All the teams (I believe there were eight) played the first three-quarters of the season together. Then, the teams were divided into a Gold and a Maroon division, the top 4 teams going into one of those and the bottom four into the other. They then played another couple of weeks, and eventually held championships for each of the two divisions. DGB.com feels that this system is most unfair to the teams finishing 3rd and 4th in the top division who get nothing while the top team in the second division (perhaps the 5th team overall) walks away with a championship trophy. In fact, it is hard to find any justification at all for the concept as it was employed this year. A league with a proud history of being competitive and "real" should not take a step backward by creating subdivisions that could be seen as being all on a co-equal footing when they clearly are not, in reality. Carrying this concept into future years could create situations where a coach of a team at the bottom of the top division could intentionally throw a game or two in order to slip down into the lower bracket where his chances of winning a title would be that much greater. Any league that gives trophies to teams 1, 2, 5 & 6 needs to examine the value of doing that. If the idea is to get more trophies to more teams, then award them to teams 1, 2, 3 & 4. But even this is going too far. Kids don't play (or shouldn't play) basketball in order to win trophies. The motivation should be because playing the game is fun. Period. The best teams (not all of the teams or half of the teams) should have their achievements recognized with trophies. By making trophies less common they are made more prized and coveted.
I had the pleasure of coaching in the St. E's League around 2004/2005. It's a wonderful organization. What has made it so fantastic are its differences from CYM JV. Longer quarters. Competitive pressing rules. IAABO refs. These differences have attracted the very best 5th/6th grade programs to it. When it sticks with its strength (competitiveness) it is at its best. I hope the league continues to be governed by that primary guiding principle.
Annie Brush (left) tightly guards MacKenzie Scully.
Megan Mallon showing great technique on the run-in layup.
Gabby Julian's face shows the worry and disappointment of a bad first half.
But, in the third quarter, Gab and her teammates found their groove. Here's Gab shooting a technical foul free-throw.
The St. E's League 2010 Champions!
St. John the Beloved
St. Elizabeth League Championship Game
March 6, 2010
1 2 3 4 Final
St. John the Beloved 5 2 8 14 29
Holy Angels 4 6 5 7 22
St. John the Beloved:
Brush, A. 2 0-0 4; Ziemba 0 0-0 0; Houck 1 0-0 2; Wolff 3 1-4 7; Brush, S. 0 0-0 0; Mallon 1 0-0 2; Julian 5 2-2 12; Walls 0 0-0 0; Albera 0 0-0 0; Peel 1 0-0 2
Holy Angels
Scully 1 0-0 2; Edler 0 0-0 0; McLaughlin 1 0-0 2; Dean 2 0-0 4; Garbowski, H. 0 0-0 0; Abshagen 2 1-2 5; Tullier 0 0-0 0; Connor 0 0-0 0; Wolfe 0 0-0 0; Schweizer 1 1-1 3; Munro 0 0-0 0; Garbowski, T. 3 0-0 6