The Saints winter seasons resumed competitions last week on Friday evening when the junior varsity boys basketball team hosted MOT Charter School. While fans are not permitted at this time, it was great to see the teams back in action. 

Boys Basketball | After over a month hiatus from playing basketball games, the boys basketball team returned to the court for a Friday night matchup against MOT Charter School. After close to two weeks of just practices after the holiday break, the team was itching to see how they would perform. The Saints settled in quickly when Jason Kourpas ’23 found Elijah Proctor-Moore ’25 on the baseline and turned the pass into a two handed dunk. From there the Saints opened the game 22-4 by the end of the first quarter. Brandon Graves ’22 was able to drive the lane and convert consistently almost all game and finished with 14 points. When the MOT Charter defense collapsed on him, he was able to find the Saints outside shooters of Frank Koblish ’22, Jake Kelly ’22, Noah Tuveson ’23, and Rhaki Lum ’25 who hit a combined 13 three pointers. The Saints were able to maintain their lead all game and won 71-39. 

Girls Basketball | The girls basketball team returned to action after a long break. In their first game in over a month, they welcomed Middletown HS for a Saturday afternoon game. The Saints kept it close at the beginning of the game and had to readjust their lineup when starter and leading scorer Darden Shuman ’23 went down with an injury. It was 9-3 after the first quarter and the team worked it down to a two possession game in the second quarter. To start the second half, Middletown was able to create turnovers with their full press and was able to extend their lead. The Saints struggled to find their shooting form but Pearl Mallick ’22, Yiru Wang ’25, and Anna Kabler ’22 were able to find their shot from outside with a handful of made jumpshots. Middletown was able to hold off any comeback by the Saints and won 37-24. 

Girls Squash | The Saints girls squash team traveled the 150 miles up to Blairstown, New Jersey to compete in the first team tournament they have played in for more than a year. 

In the first match against Westminster, the Saints top 5 players found that they were simply too strong for the opposition and won comfortably. The closest match came from captain El Richards ’22 who had to really focus on her game plan. She claimed victory in an excellent fifth set victory in overtime, 12-10.

The second match was against Lancaster Country Day. Captains Emily Murphy ’22, El Richards, and Bridget Schutt ’23 set the tone before the match to focus the team. Again, the top of the order was dominant and shut out the opposition. The Saints were missing 3 of their 8 varsity players, which meant that Adelaide Dixon ’22, Mae Thomas ’22, Georgia Davis ’23, Olivia Sheppard ’23, Emmy Parlin ’24, and Maeve Mufson ’24 had to rise above their usual positions. The Saints bottom of the order stepped up and swept every match.

The final match was against Blair Academy. Richards had to battle, and with Schutt coaching, she won her match. Murphy also had a fight on her hands and each game was back and forth, until she gained the edge and won the match. Thomas at 6 was stepping up 3 positions above her usual spot. Having lost the first game, she came back valiantly to win the second. She and Dixon worked together, using the team coaching system and were always optimistic, but in the end it wasn't enough to win the match. Mufson at 10, used her athleticism and recently acquired volleying skills to propel her to a match win. After four matches the score was tied, 2-2. Allaire Berl ’22 dominated her match, comfortably winning 3-0 and gave St. Andrew’s 3 wins. Blair was able to win their next two matches to take a 4-3 lead. Parlin at number 9, inspired by her coaching partner Mufson, was a volleying machine and stormed through to victory. Tied 4-4 with the final match coming down to number 1 Schutt. She played an exceptional and totally dominant game. Working with Richards between games, Schutt executed a superb game plan and led the Saints to a victory and a sweep of all 3 matches.