The St. Kilian CYO Stars ran their record to 6-3 with a brilliant 31-13 victory over St. Patrick of Smithtown last Saturday. The Stars dominated a team that was taller at every position. The St. Kilian coaching staff pulled off the press in the first quarter leading 12-0, but the Stars still led at half-time 24-3. In the fourth quarter the girls ran their man to man motion offense with instructions from the bench not to score.

The Stars scoring was extremly balanced with Krista Daniello leading all scorers with 8 points. Jess Patane had 5 points while Chris Tinney, Meg Fanning, and Lauren Cohen each put in four. Kate Hogan, Lorraine Quinn, and Lisa Buono contributed 2 points each. Co-captains Tinney and Daniello, helped by the rest of their team, dominated the defensive boards against taller opposition.

As impressive as the team was in their latest victory they were actually more impressive in back to back loses in the previous two games against St. Joseph's of Ronkonkoma. St. Joseph's has a number of players who play on traveling select teams and the team had dropped down into the middle conference of the Tyro Division (9th and 10th grade) after being competitive in the very top conference last year.

The Stars lost to St. Joe's by the scores of 52-46 and then 34-28. In both games the Stars were in the game to the very end against a team that has been blowing away all their competition. In the first game Lauren Cohen led the Stars scoring with 12 points, while Chris Tinney had 10. Kate Hogan scored 8, Krista Daniello 6, Meg Fanning 5, Lisa Buono 4, and Lorraine Quinn had 2.

In the second St. Joe's game, Chris Tinney and Kate Hogan each had 8 while Lauren Cohen put in 6 points. Krista Daniello, Meg Fanning, and Lisa Buono finished with 2 points each. A number of missed lay-ups were the difference for the Stars. Coaches Joe Fanning and Mary Ann Daniello told the team that even though they lost both games, they felt that the team had actually played their finest games of the season against one of the better teams they had ever faced. In the second game Lorraine Quinn, the Stars defensive spark plus and top ball handler, held St. Joe's top guard, a starter for the Long Island Lightning, to just 6 points, well below her average. These defeats proved that sometimes victory can be found in defeat.

With one game remaining in the regular season, Sunday, Oct. 29, at home at 3:30 p.m., the Stars look like they will make the playoffs for the third year in a row. These girls are an impressive group of outstanding athletes who hustle, work hard, and are truly learning that team play wins ball games and builds character.