As the snow and rain fell outside on Jan. 18, Tom Cinelli's red hot St. Kilian Boys sixth-grade basketball team traveled to Westbury to meet the undefeated St. Brigid team. Like the freezing temperature outside, St. Kilian froze out the St. Brigid offense and defeated them by a score of 50 to 26.

The St. Kilian aggressive offense rained down a torrent of baskets against a team that began the game confident in their ability to defeat St. Kilian and continue their own winning streak. St. Kilian's offense was spearheaded by Alex Woloshin (13 points), Brandon Romano (11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) and Gen Cinelli (10 points, 6 rebounds). The St. Kilian offense was fueled by crisp passing and dominant rebounding . During the first two quarters, the team poured in over a dozen field goals to help build a 27-point lead. During the final two quarters, the boys matched baskets with St Brigid to maintain the insurmountable lead.

The potent St. Kilian offense has averaged 48 points per game this season. Their run and gun offense has continually opened up the court with fast breaks as their players unselfishly seek out the open man.

Just like the snow blanketed the streets outside, the St. Kilian defense blanketed and frustrated the St. Brigid offense, which had been averaging over 40 points per game. The St. Kilian defense was led by Pat Dunne (4 points, 4 rebounds), Morton Chambers (3 points, 9 rebounds), Mike Pavese (3 points, 2 rebounds), Kyle Peck (2 points, 4 rebounds), Joe DiDonna (2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) and Chris Pavese (2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals). The team's zone defense forced St Brigid into a significant number of violations and errant passes and prevented St. Brigid from taking anything closer than a shot for the three point arc.

For the fourth time this season, the St. Kilian defense prevented an opponent's offense from scoring a field goal during a quarter and for the first time, they prevented an opponent from scoring even one point during a quarter, as they led St. Brigid by a score of 15-0 at the end of the first quarter. St. Kilian's smothering defense has held their opponents to an average of 23 points per game.

The coaches and parents are extremely proud of the team's growth and accomplishments so far this season and look forward to even greater accomplishments as the season progresses.