In reality, the entire season boiled down to a single weekend for coach Jeff Molinari's sixth grade St. Mary's boys basketball squad. At 3-3, the team really needed at least two victories to remain viable playoff contenders. Thus, the three-game sweep truly came as an unexpected surprise - but not one which came easily.

Friday night (Jan. 22) brought a very tough, close game against Notre Dame of New Hyde Park. Originally to be played at one of the New Hyde Park schools, a scheduling conflict shifted the venue to Manhasset's Shelter Rock Elementary. The contest opened with a controversy as the Notre Dame coaching staff demanded their status as home team. After a bit of discussion, their request was granted - although no one on the Manhasset side could comprehend why it mattered.

As for the game, it was extremely tight all the way. St. Mary's led 19-18 at the half and then fell behind well into quarter four. But, sparked by the brilliant and unselfish all-court play of Jon Fountain, the local kids staged a late rally and took home a very satisfying "road" victory. The lightning-quick Fountain notched 17 while Cullen Molinari contributed 14 and Jon Brenner, 8.

Buoyed by such a pleasant result from the previous night, the St. Mary's kids got up early and traveled to Garden City for a Saturday morning tilt against the first of two opponents affiliated with St. Joseph's. This time there were no arguments over who was on the road and who wasn't as St. Joe's quickly made it clear that they knew they were home and would use it to their advantage. And again, if not for Jon Fountain, that probably would have made the difference for Garden City's team.

Although his point total of 17 matched that from the prior evening, this surely was the sixth grader's top all-around effort of the season to date. He seemed virtually omnipresent, rebounding like a miniature Rodman, creating Jordanesque steals, constantly threading lovely, creative passes to a variety of teammates, not to mention shooting superbly. The body control he displayed on numerous hard-driving lay-ups was particularly impressive.

In addition, St. Mary's received a very useful five points from gritty Chris Petracca while hard-working Chris Connolly and Kevin Kitt each enjoyed productive games and helped the Manhasset team storm from behind to a hard-fought, but well-deserved 41-36 victory.

So, when an admittedly tired group of 11 and 12-year-olds made their way back to St. Joseph's for their third contest in 48 hours, to their genuine surprise, a sweep was now possible. However, as is often the case in life, yet another roadblock appeared as Coach Molinari was unavailable for the game. But, no need to panic as one of the team fathers, Terry Connolly, well-known locally for his basketball sagacity, stepped up to work with Assistant Gene Golden in coaching the club.

Apparently now comfortable playing at St. Joseph's, St. Mary's spurted to an early and considerable lead. Playing time was evenly distributed among all squad members - which gave everybody an opportunity to make major contributions. Tommy Kaminsky (two points) electrified the Manhasset side with a terrific leaping out-of-bounds save and flip to Jon Fountain (nine points) who converted for two. Matt McCooey put forth a big, hustling effort, frustrating the Garden City boys time and again. Despite his father's absence, Cullen Molinari probably produced his most effective, overall game. He grabbed rebounds by the bunches and led the St. Mary's scoring with 12.

Then, as the clock ticked away the final seconds, despite considerable obstacles - both on and off the court - the St. Mary's kids had done it. The final score was 42-31 over St. Joseph's "other" contingent. The three-game sweep brought their record to 6-3 which gave considerable life to playoff hopes. But, above all, achieving this kind of surprising success surely helped bring the team together and certainly provides basis for optimism in the upcoming contests.