Sacred Heart seventh-graders win CYO title

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The seventh-grade boys of Island Park’s Sacred Heart CYO won the Nassau-Suffolk Diocesan Basketball Championship on March 27, defeating Long Beach CYO, 40-18, at Chaminade High School.

They became the fifth team from the Sacred Heart parish to win the championship, taking home the first boys’ title in 22 years. The team is the youngest to ever win the championship trophy for Sacred Heart, leaving an historic mark on the community with the victory.

The long road to the championship was wrought with many challenges. In 2020, the then 5th-grade boys amassed a perfect 12-0 regular season record and were in the Elite 8, consisting of the final eight teams of Long Island. But then Covid hit, and the boys’ perfect season was shut down. This season, the 7th-grade boys were 10-2 and qualified for a play-in game, determining which team would move on to the playoffs.

What made the season even tougher for the group of young boys was that they were not able to play any home games or use their own parish to practice for the entire season because the parish hosted its white elephant sale. The team was forced to practice outside for the majority of the season, using Shell Creek Park and Francis St. Hegarty for their practice courts.

Members of the the championship team included Xavier Straub, Cameron Straub, William Doyle, Liam Young, Cillian Cantwell, Benjamin Torres, Benjamin Cipolla, Dyllan Hohmann and Cody Pichichero.

In the play-in game, Sacred Heart defeated St. Christopher, 42-39, in a tough matchup against an opponent that had defeated them in the regular season.

In the first round, known as the Sweet 16, Sacred Heart defeated Our Lady of Hope, 47-31. They then beat St. Phillips, 34-22, in the quarterfinals (Elite 8) and St. Anthony’s, 45-33, in the semifinals (Final 4) on their way to the championship game. In the title matchup against Long Beach, Liam Young led the team with 14 points, with Cillian Cantwell putting in 12 and Xavier Straub chipping in with 8.

The team was led by Coach Bryan Straub, who is the dean of students for Manhattan High School, and Coach Mark Cantwell.

Bryan’s wife, Erica Straub, described how the boys felt after winning the championship and going through the path to get there. “[They were] super elated to have won,” she said. “They definitely knew they had a pretty good chance. These are the same boys that have been together since fifth grade. They’re always with each other; they’re all pretty good friends, outside of school and on the court.”

The adversity only made the championship win sweeter and the team’s chemistry definitely contributed to the team’s success. For winning the championship, the boys received a trophy from the CYO organization and a medal, and a banner will be raised in Sacred Heart Church, marking their historic victory.