The 4th Grade Champion Lakers: First Row: L to R Derek Tang, Ryan Molloy, Michael Handal, John O’Hare. Second Row: Matthew Granville, Andrew Tang, Nolan Pappas, John Campo. Back: Coach Tom Granville. Missing from Photo: John Skahill, Thomas Plunkett The Lakers beat the Spurs 41-39 in a hotly contested game at St. Paul’s on Championship Saturday to claim the coveted 4th grade GCAA Intramural Boys Championship. The Spurs jumped out to a quick start led by the rebounding of Morgan LaFont and the aggressive defense of Liam Curtin. The Lakers countered with the speed of Michael Handal and the intimidating inside presence of John Campo. In the first half, the Lakers relied on Andrew Tang’s ability to find the open man and Ryan Molloy’s propensity to break down the Spurs defense with his strong dribbling moves. The Lakers success throughout the year can be attributed to its fast break brand of basketball with Thomas Plunkett rebounding and making a quick outlet pass while John Skahill filled the lanes finishing strong on the break. At the end of the first half, the Spurs charged hard as their offense was ignited by Kevin McNiff’s soft shooting touch and Andrew Costigan’s strong moves to the basket while Liam Ferris and Sean Rode controlled the boards creating a second chance opportunities for the taller Spurs squad. During the season, Spurs player Jack Tiedeman was instrumental in shutting down opponents high powered offenses with defensive pressure.

The 4th Grade Finalist Spurs: First Row: L to R: Dean Van Noy, Andrew Costigan, Liam Curtin Second Row: L to R: Liam Ferris, Paul Sekas, Morgan LaFont, Brendan McGuire, Kevin McNiff, Sean Rode Back Row: Asst Coach Ferris, Asst Coach Van Noy, Head Coach Mike McGuire, Missing Jack Tiedeman At halftime, the Lakers were down 20-16 and it was time for a halftime motivational speech by coach Granville. The Lakers responded with Matthew Granville ramping up the defensive intensity and Nolan Pappas heating up from the outside. Led by the offense of John O’hare the Lakers took the lead only to watch Brendan McGuire hit back to back threes bringing back memories of the Spurs Iceman. Motivated by their Spurs teammate back to back treys and the urging of their coach Mike McGuire, Paul Sekas and Dean Van Noy continued to apply intense defensive half court pressure limiting the Laker’s good looks at the basket.

The Lakers then dove into their playbook with Derek Tang scoring on a set out of bounds play that had no resemblance whatsoever to the play the coach drew up other than the 2 points scored after Derek made his 15 foot turnaround jumper putting the Lakers up for good as they hung on for the victory. We encourage all these talented 4th grade boys to play GCAA Intramural Basketball in the 2010-2011 season where they will play in a combination 5-6 boys league. Congrats to the Lakers, Spurs, Bulls, Nuggets, Pistons, Nets, Celtics and Knicks on a great season and special thanks to John Gallagher and Brendan Wootten for coordinating this division.