The CYO eighth grade St. Kilian Stars hosted St. Martin's of Bethpage earlier this month and won their fifth game of the season by a score of 28-8. This was the opening game of the second half of the season and it was a big step toward the playoffs.

The St. Kilian press and extending zone was just too much for St. Martin's. The score at the end of the first quarter was 10-2 due to the Stars front court pressure. The press was taken off very early in the second quarter and the Stars dropped back to their tight zone positions. Even with this non-pressure and ball control offense the score at halftime was 16-4.

The Stars began the second half by keeping the ball moving around looking to distribute the scoring evenly and making sure all the St. Kilian girls scored. Lauren Cohen led all scoring with eight points while Krista Daniello, Meg Fanning, and Kate Hogan all scored four points. Chrissy Tinney, Jess Cohen, Lisa Buono and Jess Patane rounded out the scoring with two points each.

Co-captain Krista Daniello had a big game off the boards. She was helped with the rebounding chores by the strong play of Tinney, Patane and Jess Cohen. The four guards, Hogan, Fanning, L. Cohen and Buono did a great job of controlling the offense by moving the ball very well to the open girls.

In their next game, the Stars played an extremely strong game, but still lost to Our Lady of Lourdes, from West Islip, 53-39. Even though the game was played in Farmingdale, the Stars were on the short end of the foul calls with 27 being called against them while only 14 were called against Our Lady of Lourdes. With this loss, the Stars record dropped to 5-3.

Co-captain Chris Tinney led the Stars scoring with 12 points. Diana Beltrani had one of her strongest games of the year scoring seven points and grabbing many rebounds. Lauren Cohen also scored seven points, while Kate Hogan had six. Meg Fanning, Jess Cohen and Jess Patane each had two points. Krista Daniello rounded out the scoring with one point.

Last Saturday, the Stars traveled to Seaford and took on the very physical and extremely rough St. William the Abbott team, whom the Stars are battling for a playoff spot. The Stars responded with a heart stopping and hard won victory by the score of 38-37 to run their record to six wins and three losses.

St. Kilian came out strong in the first half and led at halftime 18 to 12. The third quarter was the highest scoring one with St. Kilian outscoring St. William 13-12 to take a nice 31-24 lead into the fourth quarter. The St. William team made a strong run in the fourth quarter, which combined with some cold St. Kilian shooting and some untimely turnovers, made for a nail-biting finish. St. William was never able to take the lead though and some clutch play at the end by the Stars cemented the victory.

Co-captain Krista Daniello saved her best game of the year for this critical one. Daniello scored 10 points, as did Lauren Cohen. Kate Hogan contributed seven points while Meg Fanning and Lisa Buono each scored four points. Diana Beltrani put in three points and played a big game off the boards with some great rebounding and determined hustle. Co-captain Chris Tinney played most of the game in foul trouble, but her strong rebounding and defense when she was in went a long way to earning the St. Kilian win. Jess Cohen and Jess Patane also played strong games defensively to aid the victory.