Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | January, 2014

Sophomore Trey Lovisone, above red warm up, won the Nick Mason championship at 195.

Bishop Ireton’s wrestling Cardinals crowned a champion at the Nick Mason Memorial tournament last weekend  and competed in the Alexandria City duals on Friday.  Midweek the grapplers tangled with DeMatha and Gonzaga in a triangular WCAC match up.

Although the Cardinals took two losses on the day at DeMatha, a number of the men came away with wins. Max Russell, Justin Hoppe, Conor Reilly, Joey Siedlarz and Trey Lovisone earned points for the team against Gonzaga, while Andre Roberts was the only point getter against DeMatha.

Sophomore Trey Lovisone captured an individual championship at the Mason tournament down state at King George High School while the Cardinals finished sixth in the team standings.   Almost every wrestler got three matches and some much needed mat time. When the dust settled the Cardinals had a number of grapplers place in the medal rounds. In addition to a title for  Trey Lovisone,  Joey Siedlarz and Max Russell wrestled in the finals and earned a second place.  Siedlarz lost a hard fought 3-0 match and Russell finished in 2nd as well. Conor Reilly also posted a winning record for the day, Devon Reed placed 4th and Patrick Tuccillo took a 5th place.

This past Friday, Bishop Ireton hosted Episcopal, St. Stephens/St. Agnes, and TC Williams in the round robin affair in Godley Gymnasium.

The teams were evenly matched and the team scores demonstrated the small margin between schools.   In the opening round, TC Williams outlasted the Cardinals 42-39, while St Stephens fell to Episcopal. The Saints rallied in the second round to top TC Williams 48-27, while the Cardinals got a pin from Lovisone and sophomore Max Russell. Russell, at 106 pounds, wrestled the last match of the meet and got a pin to give the Cardinals a thrilling 42-41 win over the Maroon.

In the exciting third round, TC and Episcopal tied at 36-26, with the Titans gaining the win by “criteria points” while St. Stephens held on to top Ireton 42-36.   Perhaps the best match of the day was at 195 in the Ireton – St Stephens dual, where the Saints’ Max Gallahan topped Ireton’s Trey Lovisone in double overtime.  The wrestlers tied at 2-2 in regulation and neither grappler could gain points in the first one minute overtime.  Gallahan recorded an escape in the first of the two 30-second overtimes, then gained a two-point takedown as the clock expired in the second 30-second session to secure the win as well as gain important team points to secure the eventual  dual meet victory.

The criteria win for TC along with the Saints victory over the Cardinals gave the scarlet and green St. Stephens the City title by the narrowest of margins. Had Episcopal won in the TC matchup, they would have been crowned.

This week has the matmen in a number of non-conference matches. The Cardinals will be going to The Potomac School on Tuesday for a tri-meet with Potomac and St Anselms, wrestling will start at 4:30. On Wednesday Ireton will compete in an event at George Mason High School, wrestling will begin at 6 pm.  Friday has the redbirds back at St Stephens competing against Landon and Annapolis Area Christian School at 5 pm.  Finally, the busy Cardinals  wrap up the week at Benedictine High School on Saturday for the Catholic Commonwealth Classic in Richmond.

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Senior Ty Quarles had 12 points for Ireton in their 61-59 overtime loss to Gonzaga.

A put back by Jordan Abdur-raoof of Gonzaga, with :00.3 to play, sank Bishop Ireton in overtime Thursday night before a sold out crowd in Father George Godley Gymnasium, 61-59.  Perhaps a sign of the progress in Cardinal basketball, it was the Gonzaga student body rushing the court after the win that may signal the new found respect for the Alexandria program.  The Cardinals shocked the undefeated, top-seeded DC school in their last meeting during the quarterfinals of the 2013 WCAC championship tournament.

Bishop Ireton’s Dan Noe led all scorers with 24, Abdur-raoof had 23 for Gonzaga, including the game-winner.

The Cardinals opened the contest before a raucous crowd scoring the game’s first 5 points on a pair of Ty Quarles buckets.  Ireton extended the advantage to 11-1 on back-to-back three’s from Noe before Gonzaga regrouped and counterattacked to pull to within 14-11 after one period.   They continued to chip away at Ireton, pulling in front on the strength of a 14-3 run in the second period and headed into halftime with a 31-28 lead.

The ballclubs battled relentlessly through the third quarter with the Eagles gradually pulling out to a 46-37 advantage after three quarters.   Patrick Moseh opened the game’s final period with slam dunk off a turnover, was fouled,  and made the subsequent free throw.  Then Quarles hit a jumper and suddenly the 5-0 start pulled the Cardinals to 46-42.  Moseh made another pair from the charity stripe, sophomore Nick Schmelzer drained a jumper and the Cardinals had the game knotted at 46.

Ty Quarles hit a three-pointer and suddenly at 12-0 run gave Ireton the advantage at 49-46.  The Eagles responded with a a pair of free throws from Bradley Jacks and a field goal from Abdur-raoof to regain the lead for the Eagles at 50-49.  Bryant Crawford scored for Gonzaga and Dan Noe responded to tie the game at 52-52.  The Eagles’ Ramond Hines’ final shot in regulation was well short and the teams headed to overtime.

Dan Noe opened the overtime period with a three, Gonzaga countered with a pair of free throws and a jumper,  Schmelzer hit another three for Ireton and added a free throw to give the Cardinals a 59-56 margin.  Sam Miller replied with three of his five total points to again tie the game, setting up Abdur-raoof’s last second heroics.

The Cardinals, battling DeMatha to the wire days before and falling at home in overtime were in no mood for moral victories, falling to 8-5, 0-4 in the tough WCAC.  A road trip to St. Mary’s Ryken, always a tough venue for visiting clubs awaits the Cardinals on Saturday, tipoff at 1:30pm in Leonardtown.

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Cardinals swimmers, divers prepare gifts for needy local families

Swim and dive is a team sport with a focus on individual performances, a “personal best” is a goal of each athlete in competition.   This Christmas season, the Bishop Ireton swimmers and divers gave the term another meaning, as their “personal best” efforts brightened Christmas for seven local families.

When Ms. Phyllis Boggs learned of the need of several families in the Bucknell Elementary School community, located in the St. Louis Catholic Church neighborhood of Alexandria, she shared the news with her sophomore swimmer, Clara.  They soon concluded it would be a good service project for the Cardinals’ swim and dive team.  While Ms. Boggs obtained the details for seven families in the community, Clara set to work establishing a “Sign Up Genius” online and recruiting teammates to the project.  Just like a swim meet, the team responded.

As the information from the families came in, so to the outpouring of donations from the Ireton swim families.  Teammates joined Clara to wrap gifts, organize their delivery to Bucknell Elementary, and on the last day of their semester exams, meet with many of the families, some of whom spoke little or no English. Three hours later, they helped load the presents into cars and wished the families a merry Christmas!

Mr. Tim Slayter, the principal of Bucknell Elementary, met with the Ireton swimmers as well. Slayter spoke with the Ireton “santas” detailing the family situations of many of his students and expressing his sincere gratitude for the generous efforts of these Cardinals to brighten the holiday for those less fortunate than themselves.

“Many of our athletic teams take on a service project during the year.” commented athletic director, Bill Simmons.  “This was a wonderful initiative by the swim and dive team.  Clara and all the swimmers truly are living their faith and the Gospel message in this Season. I am very proud of them, they really get the meaning of the season.”

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Bishop Ireton's Patrick Moseh (2) in action against Yorktown. Cardinal senior had a team-high 18 against DeMatha

Bishop Ireton’s Pat Moseh scored 18 points for the Cardinals but it was  Corey Henson’s 18 points, combined with parade of free throws late that led to DeMatha’s to a 61-49 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday,  January 4th at DeMatha.

It was a back and forth first half, with the Cardinals up 14-10 after one period, only to see DeMatha claw back, claiming a 32-31 lead at the half.

It remained a one point ball game until late in the game’s final period, when the Cardinals began the desperation fouling  and DeMatha solidified their lead with a late-game surge, scoring a game-high 23 points in the final quarter on the strength of a 16-4 run.

Moseh and Henson set the tone early in the game, the Ireton senior scoring 8 first quarter points, while Henson had 7 in the opening stanza.

Reginald Gardner put three three-pointers on the board and scored nine points total. Points for DeMatha were also put up by Alani Moore (9 points), Brock Ruble (8), DJ Harvey (6), Terrell Allen (6) and Joseph Hampton (4).

The Cardinals also saw  Ty Quarles  score 8 points,  Jamie Senft 7, and Jeremy Guilland 2.

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Bishop Ireton's Jamie Senff (far left) and Dan Noe (third from right) were selected to the all tournament team.

Playing in a tournament title game as the favored squad from a “big name” conference is an situation Bishop Ireton’s Cardinals don’t often experience.  In the championship of Westfield High School’s Bulldog Bash on Monday night, the role of underdog to a WCAC opponent may have motivated the Eagles of Colonial Forge, who exploded to a 17-6 lead in the game’s opening period, then held on for a 46-43 win and the 2013 Bulldog Bash championship.

The game, delayed from its already late 9:15 tipoff by an overtime in the girls’ title contest and then an unexpected fire alarm during the pre game, tipped off at 10pm.  For the Cardinals, that seemed to catch them too soon. The athletic and quick Eagles bolted to a 7-2 advantage in the game’s opening minutes and, while the Cards couldn’t get a shot to fall, the Stafford County school hustled and worked their way to an 11-point advantage in the game’s opening eight minutes of play.

“The distractions before the game and the late start might have had something to do with it, but it affected both teams. We just didn’t play well.” commented Ireton’s Neil Berkman. The cold start began to thaw in the second period, but more on the defensive end, where the Cardinals held Colonial Forge to only 5 second quarter points, but could score only 9 themselves.  Trailing 22-15, Bishop Ireton was within striking distance and certainly hadn’t played its best basketball as they headed to the locker room.

Ireton opened the period on a 5-2 run to close the margin to 22-20, only to see the Eagles’ Damen Daniel and Marco Haskins score the game’s next four points to extend the margin to six.  When the lead grew to 30-22, Berkman looked to the bench for a spark. Enter Nick Schmeizer.

The Cardinal sophomore, one of 4 reserves substituted into the game late in the third period, provided instant energy and production.  His first three-pointer closed Ireton to within 31-25, his next three-ball made it 33-28.  He fed a nifty pass to senior center Jamie Senff for a layup, made a steal in the opening moments of the 4th quarter and scored a pair of baskets just inside the arc to give the Cardinals their first lead at 38-36.   Haskins responded and the clubs traded the lead until a Gary Jennings’ three and a pair of Carion Eaton free throws gave the white-jerseyed Eagles a 44-40 advantage.   Dan Noe pulled Ireton within 45-43 as Colonial Forge failed to convert on free throw opportunities down the stretch to put Ireton away. The Cardinals had one last chance coming out of a timeout to tie  the contest with 11 seconds remaining.

Bishop Ireton moved the ball quickly around the perimeter, into the post and back out, but the lightning quick Colonial Forge defense denied the Cardinals a wide open look. As the clock raced to :00 Ireton swung the ball back to the right and Patrick Moseh launched a final three that drew the front iron, but caromed off the rim and the horn sounded.  Ireton had outscored the newly crowned champs in three of the four quarters, but the slow start was too much to overcome.

The Eagles Marco Haskins led all scorers with 18 while Ireton’s hot shooting Nick Schmeizer had 10.  Ty Quarles had 9 for Ireton, Noe and Moseh each contributed 8.

The disappointing loss ended the Ireton 2013 portion of the campaign with a respectable 7-3 mark. After a non conference tilt Saturday at 4pm with Yorktown of Arlington County, the Cardinals face a stern WCAC week entering 2014 as they travel to DeMatha on Sunday, rescheduled due to weather, for a late afternoon matchup, then return home to face the Washington Post’s #2 team, the Cadets of St. Johns on Tuesday.  Thursday it’s the Eagles of Gonzaga that visit Godley Gym for their annual visit. All in all a busy six days of four games for the Cardinals.

News and Notes:

– Seniors Jamie Senff and Dan Noe were selected to the 2013 Bulldog Bash all tournament team. The six player squad featured three Eagles from the championship Colonial Forge and one from third place Robinson as well as the Cardinal players.

– FFMSports of Chantilly continues to bring all the Cardinals’ home basketball games to the public via live stream. Archived games are available for the season subscription.  Jack Lohrer provides play by play of the Cardinals, go to www.ffmsports.com for more information and to subscribe to individual games or a season package.  GameChanger application for your computer or mobile devices can also bring you live play-by-play of the Cardinals home AND away.  If you download the app by Monday, Jan 6th, the premium package of game statistics is free to the subscribers.

– Thursday’s match up with Gonzaga will feature the annual alumni game at 5:45.  The freshmen contest will be rescheduled, the JV will play in the 4pm time slot and the varsity contest at 7:30pm.  Advanced tickets are on sale and will go on sale at 3:15 on game day, the game has been a sell out in the past years.

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Bishop Ireton's Jamie Senff (far left) and Dan Noe (third from right) were selected to the all tournament team.

Playing in a tournament title game as the favored squad from a “big name” conference is an situation Bishop Ireton’s Cardinals don’t often experience.  In the championship of Westfield High School’s Bulldog Bash on Monday night, the role of underdog to a WCAC opponent may have motivated the Eagles of Colonial Forge, who exploded to a 17-6 lead in the game’s opening period, then held on for a 46-43 win and the 2013 Bulldog Bash championship.

The game, delayed from its already late 9:15 tipoff by an overtime in the girls’ title contest and then an unexpected fire alarm during the pre game, tipped off at 10pm.  For the Cardinals, that seemed to catch them too soon. The athletic and quick Eagles bolted to a 7-2 advantage in the game’s opening minutes and, while the Cards couldn’t get a shot to fall, the Stafford County school hustled and worked their way to an 11-point advantage in the game’s opening eight minutes of play.

“The distractions before the game and the late start might have had something to do with it, but it affected both teams. We just didn’t play well.” commented Ireton’s Neil Berkman. The cold start began to thaw in the second period, but more on the defensive end, where the Cardinals held Colonial Forge to only 5 second quarter points, but could score only 9 themselves.  Trailing 22-15, Bishop Ireton was within striking distance and certainly hadn’t played its best basketball as they headed to the locker room.

Ireton opened the period on a 5-2 run to close the margin to 22-20, only to see the Eagles’ Damen Daniel and Marco Haskins score the game’s next four points to extend the margin to six.  When the lead grew to 30-22, Berkman looked to the bench for a spark. Enter Nick Schmeizer.

The Cardinal sophomore, one of 4 reserves substituted into the game late in the third period, provided instant energy and production.  His first three-pointer closed Ireton to within 31-25, his next three-ball made it 33-28.  He fed a nifty pass to senior center Jamie Senff for a layup, made a steal in the opening moments of the 4th quarter and scored a pair of baskets just inside the arc to give the Cardinals their first lead at 38-36.   Haskins responded and the clubs traded the lead until a Gary Jennings’ three and a pair of Carion Eaton free throws gave the white-jerseyed Eagles a 44-40 advantage.   Dan Noe pulled Ireton within 45-43 as Colonial Forge failed to convert on free throw opportunities down the stretch to put Ireton away. The Cardinals had one last chance coming out of a timeout to tie  the contest with 11 seconds remaining.

Bishop Ireton moved the ball quickly around the perimeter, into the post and back out, but the lightning quick Colonial Forge defense denied the Cardinals a wide open look. As the clock raced to :00 Ireton swung the ball back to the right and Patrick Moseh launched a final three that drew the front iron, but caromed off the rim and the horn sounded.  Ireton had outscored the newly crowned champs in three of the four quarters, but the slow start was too much to overcome.

The Eagles Marco Haskins led all scorers with 18 while Ireton’s hot shooting Nick Schmeizer had 10.  Ty Quarles had 9 for Ireton, Noe and Moseh each contributed 8.

The disappointing loss ended the Ireton 2013 portion of the campaign with a respectable 7-3 mark. After a non conference tilt Saturday at 4pm with Yorktown of Arlington County, the Cardinals face a stern WCAC week entering 2014 as they travel to DeMatha on Sunday, rescheduled due to weather, for a late afternoon matchup, then return home to face the Washington Post’s #2 team, the Cadets of St. Johns on Tuesday.  Thursday it’s the Eagles of Gonzaga that visit Godley Gym for their annual visit. All in all a busy six days of four games for the Cardinals.

News and Notes:

– Seniors Jamie Senff and Dan Noe were selected to the 2013 Bulldog Bash all tournament team. The six player squad featured three Eagles from the championship Colonial Forge and one from third place Robinson as well as the Cardinal players.

– FFMSports of Chantilly continues to bring all the Cardinals’ home basketball games to the public via live stream. Archived games are available for the season subscription.  Jack Lohrer provides play by play of the Cardinals, go to www.ffmsports.com for more information and to subscribe to individual games or a season package.  GameChanger application for your computer or mobile devices can also bring you live play-by-play of the Cardinals home AND away.  If you download the app by Monday, Jan 6th, the premium package of game statistics is free to the subscribers.

– Thursday’s match up with Gonzaga will feature the annual alumni game at 5:45.  The freshmen contest will be rescheduled, the JV will play in the 4pm time slot and the varsity contest at 7:30pm.  Advanced tickets are on sale and will go on sale at 3:15 on game day, the game has been a sell out in the past years.

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Senior Patrick Moseh (2) had a game-high 20 points when the Cardinals stunned Gonzaga in the quarterfinals of the WCAC playoffs in 2013. a highlight of the year just ending.

As the calendar draws a close on 2013, many pundits in the Washington DC area look back with little cheer for the home town teams over the past year.  Whether a local college or professional team fan, there just wasn’t much good news in 2013.

The Cardinals, however, found a number of great moments in the year just ending.  The 2013 winter sports got things started right away and Cardinal fans have been excited from January on, with strong results early in 2013 building into new expectations as the 49th year of Ireton athletics gives way to the 50th.

It started with ice hockey, where a determined group of seniors had slowly built the back the foundations of a good program with hard work and determination.  The season culminated with a standing room only crowd on their senior night at Mount Vernon Recreation Center when the Cardinals played a thrilling game with cross town rival, St Stephens, St Agnes.  The game see sawed back and forth with a number of lead changes before a hulking sophomore Jonathan Chin drilled a slap shot high to the glove side to give the Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Saints, to the delight of hundreds of Cardinal faithful in attendance.

Soon after it was boys basketball, where Coach Neil Berkman’s team ended the campaign 18-14, the best mark in more than 25 years. And, of course, the shocker of the entire high school basketball campaign was the 59-53 upset of the top-ranked, undefeated in conference play, Gonzaga Eagles in the quarterfinals of the WCAC championships.  While the conference sported many nationally recognized programs and future college stars, the Eagles only tasted defeat once at the hands of a WCAC opponent, and it was Berkman’s charges that won going away on a cold, rainy Saturday at Gallaudet University. A 21-12 final quarter broke the Cardinals away from a tied game and sent a buzz throughout the DC basketball community with the surprising news.  Patrick Moseh’s 20 points led the Cardinals.

The spring would see the Cardinals have a banner year on the diamond, with a third place finish in the always competitive WCAC their highest finish in more than ten seasons. They played air tight defense, used strong pitching and timely hitting on a senior-ladened ball club to make Frank Mann Field an exciting place for baseball, whether it was a 3-1 win over Gonzaga or a 15-0 blowout of ranked Flint Hill, no one wanted to visit the Cardinals during the 2013 season. But Maryland-bound, WCAC player-of-the-year, pitcher Taylor Styles was up to the task when he out dueled Cody Hagenston 2-1 to send Bishop McNamara on to what would be a sweep of top-ranked St Johns and a date with DeMatha in the conference finals.

Coach Rick Sofield’s girls lacrosse team vaulted back into the WCAC championship after a strong season with the strongest non-conference schedule ever assembled at Ireton.  The girls took a 5-4 lead into halftime at the championships, threatening to become the School’s first WCAC title winners since the 2003 softball upset of Bishop O’Connell.  But Good Counsel’s senior-dominated squad rallied to win in the second half, but the young Cardinals served notice that Ireton lacrosse was going to be a force to be reckoned with in the years ahead. The 9-8 upset loss to Collegiate in Richmond the following days disappointed, but didn’t detract from the great 17-6 season completed in 2013 and the high expectations for 2014.

Likewise, rowing demonstrated that persistence and hard work pays off in a remarkable season for both boys’ and girls’ crew.  Undefeated in the regular season the boys varsity 8 earned a bronze medal in the area championships and a 6th seed in the US National championships. The girls also had a strong campaign, capped off by their varsity 4 boat earning a 5th place finish at the US high school championships.  The boys’ varsity 8 finished 12th, but turned enough heads to garner an invitation to the Head of the Charles” regatta in the fall of 2013 for the boys based upon the strong spring of 2013!

The Fall picked up where the spring left off.  Football started the season strong, and proved any rumor of the program’s demise was premature when they avenged a blowout loss at St Stephens the previous fall with a thrilling 18-15 triumph at Fannon Field.  Ireton’s boys soccer team played everyone tough, including the defending conference champs, Gonzaga, to a 1-1 tie in regular season, then battled the Eagles through a scoreless overtime contest in the WCAC quarterfinals before falling in penalty kicks.  The Cardinals earned a bid to the state tournament for the first time in ages, and demonstrated they were better than their 11th seed by upsetting 6th seeded St Christopher’s on the Saints home pitch to advance to the quarterfinals.  Likewise, the perennially strong girls soccer team played a brutal non conference schedule but achieved a 6th place ranking by the Washington Post, including a tie with top ranked Good Counsel and a pair of wins over St Johns. Senior Megan Sullivan earned a WCAC championship in tennis, Ireton’s first of the year, a victory over   of Paul VI.

The strong showing early in 2013 put high expectations on the swim and dive team as their season got underway late in the calendar year. They didn’t disappoint as the girls raced away to a WMPSSDL Relay Carnival team championship as the boys finished second to kick off the swim and dive season. The girls repeated the feat in the Virginia independent schools relay championships and the boys have a dual meet win over DeMatha on their belts as their dual meet season gears up for January and February. Ireton’s boys hoops is again off to a fast start, 5-2 with a number of quality wins, including Flint Hill, Episcopal, and Archbishop Stepanic of White Plains, New York. Until a setback in Florida, one of Ireton’s two losses is to nationally ranked, and number 1 in the DC area, Paul VI. Few teams have played the Panthers closer than Ireton, including St Johns, ranked #2 in the Post.

With participation in athletics once again at high levels, Cardinals are working hard, achieving and getting better in the process.  Great things happened in 2013 and they promise more excitement in 2014. “It’s GREAT to be a Cardinal!” is more than a saying these days in Ireton athletics!  Happy New Year!

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