The GCAA Travel Basketball program just concluded another successful season in the very competitive Island Garden Super League. Here's some of the highlights:

GRANVILLE 6TH BOYS finished their season in strong fashion and qualified for the playoffs. The 6th grade squad beat a Manhattan based fast Break team 51-36 in the first round of the playoffs and then lost to Lightning Eiber, the eventual champion, by a score of 51-49 in a heartbreaker. During the season, the team was led by Lucas Hildreth's inside scoring presence, Jonathan Granville's ability to dish and Jack Tigh's slashing moves to the basket. The trio of Kyle Brattan, Bobby Clarke and Colin DeAngelo provided intense defensive pressure through the utilization of their blazing speed while Tom Wright and Conor Muldoon controlled the boards all year. Pat Gibbons and Kieran McGoldrick worked the inside outside game to perfection as Pat was a sharpshooter from the perimeter and Kieran relied on spin moves to keep the defense off balance. The squad, coached by Tom Granville, is moving on to spring sports but will continue to practice their basketball skills as they get ready to improve their performance next year. Congrats on a great season!

GRANVILLE 3RD BOYS beat the Tigers 22-11 in the Island Garden Championship game this past Monday March 23 to claim the 3rd grade title. The squad made it to the championship game by upending the JCC Buchbinder team 28-19 in the semi-finals utilizing great team defense and pinpoint passing. This group of talented hoopsters started their journey at a September 2008 try out with the goal of having fun, improving as basketball players, winning a title, and getting their names on the Island Garden Champions Wall. All of the goals were met. While our 3rd grade travel teams officially started in September 2008, the groundwork for 3rd grade travel was set in place when GCAA started playing 2nd grade boys intramural games in December 2007, an endeavor that progressed all our 3rd grader skills significantly. The GCAA Granville team relied on the skills developed at the GCAA clinics at a younger age and the efforts set forth during this year's practices. The practice time and effort resulted in a 16-2 regular season record in a very competitive 3rd grade league which included a few 4th grade opponents. Throughout their preparation for games this season, special emphasis was put on defense and that strategy allowed the squad to switch defenses frequently, often on the fly, keeping the opposing teams off balance. These 8 and 9 year olds were able to change from man to man, a 1-3-1 trap or a 2-3 zone with regularity and ease. All ten players contributed to the team's success throughout the year as quite often each and every play scored. The team was led by the ball handling skills of Brendan McGuire, the rebounding of Michael Liberopoulos, the defensive intensity of Matthew Granville, the shot blocking presence of Ian Gallagher and the soft shooting touch of Aidan Byrnes. When the team needed power offensive moves, they turned to Andrew DeSantis, and when they needed inside rebounding Cole Dutton was the answer. Each and every player brought a unique skill to the table that helped the roundballers flourish such as Colin Crean's perimeter shooting, Sean Leggett's tough minded defense or Liam Muldoon's slashing offensive moves to the basket. The team was coached by Tom Granville and John Gallagher. In both playoff games, the score was tied at the half which meant it was time to call on the stamina built during Coach Granville's and Coach Gallagher's practices which always included a lot of running. In each contest, the 3rd graders started the 2nd half with a run executing the plays called in halftime huddle while dialing up the defensive intensity. The Island Garden Championship Game vs the Tigers was fierce as players were heard explaining several scenarios to Coach Granville as they left the court "that kid stepped on my face", "that kid elbowed me in the head", "that kid knocked me down." As these youngsters found out quickly, Island Garden Basketball is not for the feint of heart as our boys did not back down but rather stepped up to the challenge. At the end of the day, the 3rd grade GCAA Granville boys proudly displayed their black and blue eyes/faces/ribs along with their championship trophies. It is very hard winning a championship but even harder defending one. These 3rd grade boys now have a new goal to set their sights on. Keep an eye out for these hoopsters at Island Garden in future years! They hope to get even better with hard work and practice.

KELLY 5TH GIRLS ended their season last week with a second round playoff loss to an undefeated 6th grade team from St. Rose.The girls were the only 5th grade team in the competitive 6th grade league. Every week the girls had to overcome a significant height disadvantage. Fortunately, what the girls were missing in height they made up for with heart and determination. Their aggressive play led them to a league high 10 wins throughout the season. The girls played great all year and learned to play as a "team" as they received many compliments throughout the year for their aggressive defense and great ball movement on offense.The first round of the playoffs had the Kelly girls facing a familiar opponent. After two regular season matchups, this one was sure to be a battle. The Kelly girls were able to pull off a one-point victory in overtime to advance them into the second round.

The girls faced an undefeated St. Rose team in the second round. The first half was very exciting as the GCAA girls had plenty of scoring opportunities but were unable to capitalize and were down by 5 at the break. In the second half, the girls stayed in the game and gave it their all but were unable to defeat the St. Rose team. This years team consisted of: Michaela Bruno, Kerry Defliese, Shannon Kelly, Caroline Kenny, Juliana Kubler, Nicole Leto, Kerry McCarraher, Julia McGuire, Amanda Medjid and Caroline Peppard. Great season girls!!!

KELLY 7TH BOYS ended their season on March 8th with an exciting 53-50 win over Christ the King. The Kelly boys jumped out to an early 12-0 start and appeared to be coasting to victory and then Christ the King got hot and made this one a game. The Kelly boys eventually won by 3 in their season finale.This years team consisted of : Kieran Byrnes, Michael Collins, Mark DeSantis, Patrick Finneran, Will Harrington, Matthew Kelly, Drew Kiley, Pete Luglio, Kevin Mullin, Robert Wotczak and Luke Zeccola. Great job boys!!!!

RAPHAEL 6TH GIRLS finished another successful season by forging their way into the playoffs. Great guard play by Annie Kane, Becky Reifler, Sam Auricchio, Emma Basel and Katie Roscoe was very inspiring. The inside play of Gianna Esposito, Shannon Raphael and Catherine Parente kept improving thruout the year. Morgayne Rix, Kathleen Burke and Fiona MacLeod led a tenacious defense.

HAMMERSLEY 6TH BOYS battled every game, making huge strides to always get better. Thanks to the great hustle of Kevin Sprotte and Mike Emmert, the team was able to hold the opponents to minimal points. The paint was dominated by Jack Cashwell, Mike Flood, Alex Wood and Pat Basel. The pressing defense was employed by Will Hammersley and Nick Sarkis. Point guard play highlighted Darius Iraj and Tim Foxen's skills.

There's so many other highlights. Many of our teams has successful runs thru the IG playoffs. Congrats to all the coaches and players who participated. Finally, a special thank you to all the parents who supported our the program. Another great season !!!!!!