St. Clement School Announces Winter Sports All-Stars

Shawn Thornton, the girl’s head basketball coach, athletic director, and president of the Catholic Central League is very pleased with another great winter season with for Saint Clement School teams.

The girls basketball team finished 16-4 overall and 11-1 to win the league for the first time in school history. The boys basketball team finished 9-9 overall and 6-4 to finish in 2nd place in the league, while the boys ice hockey team fell short of making the tourney posting a 7-11-2 record.

The success of the winter sports led to individual awards for all-stars and a few MVP’s. For the boys ice hockey team senior goalie Sean Simas (Cambridge) had his toughest challenge after losing his starting defenseman along with 5 other seniors from last season.

“I knew we were going to be young so I would have to face a ton of shots, but I was up for challenge,” said Simas.

Simas was more than up for the challenge, earning both league and team MVP. He is the first player in the hockey team’s six-year history to receive league MVP. He posted two shutouts on the season.

The girls basketball team earned a school record and had four league all-stars, more than any other team in the league. Eighth grade point guard Jess Popken (Medford), who averaged ten points a game, repeated as an all-star. Sophomore guard Allison Caloggero and senior center Tahisa Bazile, both of Medford, earned the title for the first time while Christy Novembre (Cambridge) was the obvious choice for league MVP, winning a unanimous vote by all coaches. Novembre led the Catholic Central League in scoring for the third straight season, averaging 25 points per game and tearing 12 boards a game. She totaled 1,756 points in her career over 82 games and has been selected as an all-star since her sophomore campaign. Novembre looks forward to playing college basketball and is considering several D2 and D3 schools around the state.

The boy’s basketball team received three notable all-stars in sophomore shooting guard Kevin Foley (Medford), senior forward Rony Charles (Medford), and senior three-time all-star point guard James Alphonse (Malden). Alphonse, who led the Catholic Central League in scoring with an average of 22 points per game, been playing varsity basketball since the eighth grade for head coach Leo Boucher.

“James has the ability to play college basketball based on his athletic talent and overall dedication to the game of basketball,” said Boucher.

Overall it was another great winter season for Thornton’s teams. For more information on Saint Clement School, please call 781.393.5600 or visit www.saintclementschool.org.

– Information and photo from Saint Clement School. Pictured above: top row, left to right, Jess Popken, Medford, Tahisa Bazile, Medford, Christy Novembre, Cambridge, Allison Caloggero, Medford. Middle row, left to right, Kevin Foley, Medford, James Alphonse, Malden, Rony Charles, Medford. Front row, left to right, Sean Simas, Cambridge, Athletic Director/Head Coach Shawn Thornton, Medford, Sean Wrenn, Charlestown.