St. Raphael’s Basketball Wins New England Championship

Just call them Gang Green.

The St. Raphael Elementary School fifth- and sixth-grade boys basketball team capped a magical – and unbeaten – season by capturing the New England CYO tournament championship on April 3 in Bridgeport, Conn.

St. Raphael overcame its share of adversity in the championship game, held at St. Joseph High School in Bridgeport. After three tightly contested quarters to open the title tilt against Saints Peter and Paul School of Waterbury, Conn., St. Raphael found itself down by seven, 33-26, after three quarters following a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

St. Raphael didn’t back down, however, relying on its relentless and smothering defense to outscore Saints Peter and Paul 14-2 in the final quarter, securing the New England championship with a 40-35 victory.

The New England title is the first for any St. Raphael squad since the early 1980s.

“This was an easy team to coach,” said coach Charlie Ball. “The players gave exactly what we coaches asked for and what the team needed. They were a selfless group whose whole completely outweighed the sum of its parts.”

The New England championship game victory was a testament to St. Raphael’s hard work and determination throughout the season, which saw the team compile an unblemished 22-0 record.

Despite being out-sized in virtually every game it played, St. Ray’s played tenacious defense while employing a blistering fast break attack.

The team – coached by Mike Philpot, Charlie Ball and Dan O’Neill – unleashed a trapping press defense in the postseason that left opponents befuddled and led to multiple fast break points along the way.

Down seven points entering the fourth quarter in the New England championship game, St. Raphael’s turned up its defensive intensity to an even higher level, creating turnovers and points off those turnovers and many times not allowing Saints Peter and Paul to even cross halfcourt.

“We went to a full court man-to-man defense to a start the fourth quarter,” said coach Mike Philpot, “and we made sure each kid knew how to do their job applying pressure without gambling too much. It seemed to take Saints Peter and Paul out of their rhythm and gave us the momentum. The kids did a great job as they did all year.”

In its opening game of the New England championships St. Ray’s struggled to find its footing, holding a slim 16-13 halftime lead against St. Christopher of Nashua, N.H.
The second half was a different story, however, as St. Ray’s came out firing and cruised to a 39-25 victory.

Facing a much bigger St. Philomena team from Rhode Island in the New England semifinals, St. Ray’s never let that size become a factor. St. Ray’s led 11-4 after one quarter and 27-14 at the half before rolling to a 45-23 victory to advance to the championship game.

St. Raphael’s season stretched over parts of seven months, starting in October and culminating with April’s New England championships.

Along the way, St. Ray’s captured the title at the Second Annual Ryan ‘Duce’ Morrissey Memorial tournament at St. Clement in November before running the slate during the Middlesex Catholic Elementary School League regular season.

St. Raphael then won the Middlesex tournament title with wins over St. Joseph’s of Wakefield, St. Patrick’s of Stoneham and Immaculate Conception of Revere to advance to the Archdiocese of Boston tournament.

St. Raphael opened the Archdiocese of Boston tournament with a 54-21 win over Holy Family of Rockland and claimed the tournament title with a 42-21 win over Braintree’s St. Francis of Assisi to advance to the New England CYO tournament.

Held April 2-3 in Bridgeport, Conn., the eight-team New England CYO tournament featured eight diocese champions from across New England, including three from Massachusetts, three from Connecticut, one from Rhode Island and one from New Hampshire.

The team’s run through the postseason became a bonding opportunity for the school community as a whole, with strong fan turnout at each of the St. Raphael tournament games.
On the afternoon of its trip to Bridgeport, the team received a blessing from St. Raphael Parish pastor Father Paul Coughlin and a standing ovation from kindergarten students. In addition, St. Raphael principal Mark Bedrosian, middle school teacher Cynthia Gately and physical education teacher William Greeley made the trip to Connecticut to support the team.

“The support we received from the St Raphael’s community was phenomenal,” said coach Dan O’Neill. “We could feel the buzz throughout the week leading up to the New England Championship and the well wishes and rousing sendoff by the school really propelled us in the tournament.”

St. Raphael’s team members include sixth-graders Max Philpot, Jimmy Ball, Evan O’Neill, Ryan Svendsen, Daniel Barberian, Tom O’Leary, Jack Connolly and Cameron Vivolo and fifth-graders Cameron Flaherty, Timmy Corcoran, Richard Foscarota, Matthew Zubricki, Jared McDonagh and Ronny Listro.

– Submitted by Ed Flaherty