Tom Cinelli's St. Kilian sixth-grade boys basketball team celebrated New Year's weekend with two games against a gutsy, physical St. Bernard's team. The St. Kilian team responded to the challenge with two convincing victories.

On Jan. 3 the St. Kilian boys traveled to St. Bernard where their potent offense crushed the St. Bernard team by a score of 62 to 21. St. Kilian's offense was spearheaded by Alex Woloshin (12 points, 2 steals), Brandon Romano (12 points), Glenn Cinelli (10 points, 2 rebounds), Kyle Peck (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Morton Chambers (8 points, 13 rebounds). The offense played an almost flawless game with crisp passing, accurate shooting and dominant rebounding.

The defense stifled the St. Bernard team, holding them to only 11 points over the last three quarters. St. Kilian's defense pressured the St. Bernard ball handlers and shooters and controlled the defensive boards. The boys challenged the St. Bernard shooters almost every time down court. The defense was led by Chris Pavese (4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), Joe DiDonna (4 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots), and Mike Pavese (21 points, 11 rebounds).

On Jan. 4, St. Kilian hosted the same St. Bernard team, which sought to avenge the earlier defeat. A tenacious, pressing St. Bernard defense limited the powerful St. Kilian offense to 39 points. However, the St. Kilian boys responded with even greater defensive pressure and left the court with a 39-14 victory and a weekend sweep of St. Bernard.

The St. Kilian offense was led by Chris Pavese (8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals), Glenn Cinelli (7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), Brandon Romano (6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) and Alex Woloshi (6 points, 2 assists, 9 steals). The team again demonstrated a superb offensive effort with their passing, shooting and rebounding.

Defensively, Mike Pavese (4 points, 8 rebounds), Morton Chambers (2 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals), Kyle Peck (2 points, 8 rebounds), Brandon Veracka (2 points, 4 steals) and Joe DiDonna (2 points, 3 rebounds) pressured and dominated the St. Bernard offense, forcing them into numerous turnovers. Once again, the St. Kilian defense stifled the St. Bernard shooters and prevented them from taking any unchallenged shots.

With this weekend's sweep, the St. Kilian sixth-grade boys basketball team improved its record to five wins and no defeats.