This week found the St. Mary's Girls CYO program completing their sixth week of play and almost 300 boys in the boys CYO travel program beginning their season. Here is the recap:

• St Mary's fifth grade girls team coached by Pat Connolly and Steve George earned their fourth consecutive victory this Nov. 19 beating St. Vincent of Elmont 28-19. Leading scorers were Kelsey Connolly with 10 points, Jaclyn D'Alleva with 8 points, Natalie Stefan with 6 points and Olivia Belinsky with 4 points. Outstanding defense was played by Tara Belinsky who had numerous steals, along with Stacey Rubertone, the leading rebounder, and Nicole George who harassed St. Vincent's playmaker into a number of turnovers. Erin Coleman and Sara Henry played great team ball collecting several assists on beautiful passes to their teammates. Priya Alegesan was relentless with her hustle and her shot blocking.

• The fifth grade girls coached by PJ Barry beat Our Lady of Lourdes 18-10. Brigid Kenny, Marisa Aliprantis, Catherine Weppler, Paulina Parsons, Amelia Barry and Nicole Koskovolis all scored in the win. Leading the defensive charge were Sarah Vidal, Alex Cirella and Angelica Cramer.

• On Nov. 19, Kevin Wilshere's undermanned St Mary's fifth grade girls team lost to St. Joseph's by 25-20. Caitlin Gleason led St. Mary's with 10 points and Sydney DeHann scored and grabbed numerous rebounds. All the girls played a great defensive game.

• The boys fifth grade team coached by Jim Farrell and Dan Barry held off a tough St. Agnes team to take their second victory in a row by a score of 29-23. The team was led by the tenacious rebounding and strong defensive play of Bradley "Boards" Spilka and Chris "Glue" Keane and smart offensive play of Charlie "Silk" Malhame.

• Despite a furious fourth quarter comeback, the sixth grade C team coached by Mr. Coughlin and Mr. Conway went down to defeat 40-38 to conference leading, undefeated St. Anthony. The tenacity of the visitors from Manhasset closed a first half double digit spread but poor shooting once again plagued the St. Mary's squad. True grit and athleticism kept the score close and the leading scorer for the Gaels was Kate Conway with 13. Conway returned to the fray following a painful elbow stinger to keep the Manhasset five in contention. Maddie Molinari was all over the court for the Gaels with numerous steals and 12 points. Jessica Gales played well and notched 10 points. Alice Coughlin "hit the boards" with numerous rebounds and 2 points. Megan Heaney hit a key foul shot and Megan Chang and Margaret Pegno brought spirited support to the team effort.

• St. Mary's eighth grade girls "hoopsters" had a happy Thanksgiving. After being down 6-0 at the start of the game on Nov.18 at home, the team came together and scored 10 unanswered points to take the lead and never look back. Game high scorer Olivia Evans poured in 21 points to lead the way. High pressure defense led by Jenna Accardi (4 rebounds, 2 steals), Meg Malhame (2 rebounds) and Maura Corrigan (2 rebounds) wreaked havoc all afternoon. Juliette deVenoge, who put pressure on the opposing ball handlers, came up with six steals and scored 6 points. Rebounding queens Stephanie Rocca and Alison Brosky controlled the boards against bigger girls. Toughness was the rule of the day as the eighth graders stepped up. Missed very much was Slaney O'Hanlon and Mia Cosentino. They both bring a lot to the team every game. Coaches John Evans and Jim Accardi look forward to the next challenge against St. Aidan's, away on Dec. 2.

• Dave Brooks' seventh grade boys' team started fast out of the chute with two wins against St. Boniface of Sea Cliff and St. Aidan's. Ryan Murray, Christian Salvaterra, Andrew Brooks, Will Salter, Jack Salter, Conor McNamara, John Kiggins, Mikey Christoper and Mike Mancini handled the offense while Stefan Pate, Eddie Troia and Phillip Iervolino contributed on defense and the boards.

• St. Mary's sixth grade boys team coached by Ken McGorry visited St. Aidan's in Williston Park for their first game of the season on Nov. 19 and came away with a 48-27 win. Top scorers were Kade Kenlon (16), Charles Kline (11) and Patrick McGorry (10). Six members of the team played together in the league last year and the coach sees a lot of promise in the new team. "The players all passed the ball well, which is what we asked them to do," said the coach. "In the following weeks we have lots of skills to refine, but we're happy to get off to a good start."

• After falling behind 15-7 at the half, the St. Mary's fifth grade boys team coached by Jim Farrell and Dan Barry staged a dramatic comeback to defeat St. William the Abbott of Seaford 45-42. The team's solid defense and relentless fast break led the second half surge. The team was led by the solid rebounding and inside play of James "The Animal" Farrell, two long range jumpers down the stretch by Timmy "Downtown" Ahern, two game tying free throws by Patrick "Ice" Fahey and solid point guard performance by both Sean 'Speedy" Barry and Gabe "Dish" Mieleszko.

• The seventh grade boys CYO team coached by Mike Stratford and Tony Treccapelli scored their first victory of the season vs. St. Aidan's by a score of 36 to 30. St. Mary's led the entire game with good all around defense and an offensive attack led by Malik Merriweather and Malcolm Turner who scored 16 and 8 points respectively. The entire team contributed with impressive rebounding, ballhandling and sportsmanship.