Mary, Seat Wins Eighth Grade Basketball Tourney
January 7, 2010

St. Raymond School (Mt. Prospect) eighth grader Bobby Frasco scored 29 points during the title game of the Saint Patrick Eighth Grade Boys Grammar School Tournament on Jan. 6, but it just wasn’t enough to hold off Mary, Seat of Wisdom (Park Ridge) who took the team title with a final score of 50-47.

Fifteen of Frasco’s points came from beyond the three-point line. MSW, however, had an answer for nearly every shot. Lucas Carlson scored two for two from the line and banked four three-pointers, three in the third quarter. “We’ve played St. Raymond before and it is always a closely contested game,” said MSW coach Joe Raphael who took over head coaching duties for the game since regular head coach Ron Palucki was called out of town on business. “We made adjustments to accommodate for their half-court trap and focused on their best player [Frasco].”

MSW was initially trailing into the half, but picked up momentum in the third quarter behind the scoring of Carlson, Sean Festle, Andrew Palucki and Marty Balow, and the tremendous defensive effort of Galvin Mendoza. The run left St. Raymond eight points back and more ambitious than ever for a fourth quarter comeback. “Battles, pressing, turnovers, rebounds, free throws—there was a lot of excitement on both sides of the court,” said Raphael. “Mary, Seat of Wisdom is a disciplined, very good team,” said St. Raymond coach Rick Gancarz who is looking forward to a potential rematch during MSW’s tournament later this month. “The team did a fantastic job. We just came up a little bit short.” Gancarz noted that Frasco’s game-high 29 points boosted his 28 points-per-game tournament average.

In the contest for the third place trophy, St. Viator defeated St. Francis Borgia 45-37. St. Pat’s sixth and seventh grade tournaments will begin January 24. Brackets will be available to parents and coaches prior the tournament on stpatrick.org.